The legend of JuJu Watkins is already growing, but the crazy part is that USC’s basketball superstar has played only five games. Most freshmen — most mere mortals — require at least half of a season to begin to own the stage and settle into the rhythms of the college game after dominating at the high school level. Most freshmen need time to become their fully-realized selves as elite athletes.
Not JuJu. She is not ordinary. She is one of the special ones.
Just five games into her USC career, she has posted three games with at least 30 points. She is already racking up double-doubles with 30-point tallies. She is already dominating fourth quarters of games. She is already creating the kinds of moments only special athletes produce.
She left an indelible mark on Wednesday night’s 71-70 USC win over Penn State in The Bahamas.
Watkins was not at her best in the first 38 minutes of this 40-minute game. She was, however, the dominant force in the final two minutes and the only reason USC won by a point after trailing 70-64 with 2:15 left.
Watkins did cough up seven turnovers against Penn State’s relentless attacking defense. This was the first game in 2023 in which Watkins and USC didn’t handle on-ball pressure particularly well. USC’s defense was not the reason Penn State scored 70 points. USC’s 20 giveaways enabled Penn State to push the ball up the court and score before USC’s halfcourt defense could get set up. Penn State turned defense into offense on a night when USC starter Kaitlyn Davis was out with an injury. Watkins and her USC teammates struggled without Davis, whose value to the team and particularly its halfcourt offense became glaringly apparent.
Watkins, with USC trailing by six points at the 2:15 mark of regulation, was missing a key teammate. She was having a difficult game. No one else was stepping up. Players were naturally thrown off guard by the adjusted lineups. It seemed USC was about to drop its first game of the season.
JuJu Watkins wouldn’t allow that to happen. She scored seven points in the final two minutes on two layups and a 3-pointer. Her go-ahead layup in the final 30 seconds was an amazing step-through move between two defenders, a difficult maneuver Watkins performed with ease. USC’s defense was able to shut out Penn State in the final two minutes while JuJu did her thing. Watkins shrugged off all the struggles of the first 38 minutes and showed not only how skilled she is; she revealed how much mental toughness and competitive brilliance she already owns as a freshman.
The Trojans moved to 5-0 and won on a night when they were missing Kaitlyn Davis.
The legend of JuJu Watkins is growing rapidly, and she has played just five games. How many more of these kinds of moments will she create in her freshman season?
We can’t wait to find out. JuJu is a must-see athlete. If you can get to the Galen Center, do so. You are watching a superstar at USC.
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