Tag: Juju Watkins

USC’s run of elite recruiting has one superstar left to go: Bronny James

Isaiah Collier, No. 1 MBB recruit. Juju Watkins, No. 1 WBB recruit. Bear Alexander, No. 1 portal prospect. Can #USC land Bronny now?

It has been a remarkable college sports cycle for USC athletics in its revenue sports. The Trojans put both basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament and reached a New Year’s Six bowl in football, something done by only two other schools in this cycle: Alabama and Tennessee.

USC recruited the top-ranked prospects in men’s and women’s basketball, landing Isaiah Collier and JuJu Watkins. It retained Boogie Ellis for one more season. It just landed the top-ranked (spring) transfer portal prospect, Bear Alexander. We’re waiting to see if the Trojans can close the door and land Bronny James, who — though not the No. 1 prospect on the board — would carry value beyond recruiting rankings. Bronny choosing USC would make Trojan basketball much more of a destination program for other recruits. USC becoming “the place to be” for basketball, not just football, is exactly how Andy Enfield can build the Trojans into a Final Four-level program, a team which can expect to contend for college basketball’s biggest prizes. Let’s say more about this below:

USC commit Juju Watkins opens up on Nike Hoop Summit, Trojans decision

#USC WBB commit Juju Watkins (ankle) didn’t play at the Nike Hoop Summit, but the selection meant a lot to her.

The USC Trojans women’s basketball team returned to the NCAA Tournament but suffered a first-round loss to South Dakota State. Nonetheless, there is a ton of excitement for this program moving forward, and USC signee Juju Watkins is one of the main reasons why.

Watkins is a part of the first USA women’s team at the Nike Hoop Summit, and her arrival there brought a humbling reaction (h/t Marc Spears of Andscape). Watkins didn’t play in the summit due to concerns about an ankle injury, but the selection to the team meant a lot to her.

“It always means something to wear USA on your chest,” Watkins said. Whenever you’re wearing it, you’re representing ladies, all the Olympians and junior USA players. So, to be a part of that bigger legacy is very empowering.”

Watkins is largely considered the No. 1 recruit in the entire class. She was named the 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Girls Player of the Year.

Trojan head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who has turned the program around, couldn’t stop raving about Watkins’ talent:

“Juju is a transcendent talent,” Gottlieb said. “With her size and skill level, she does things on the court that are exceptional. But she makes them look seamless.”

The Sierra Canyon High School star also opened up on her decision to play at USC. It’s a local decision:

“I’m big on repping from where I come from. So, to be able to wear USC across my chest and represent my community and where I come from, it’s important.”

The men’s team landed Isaiah Collier and the women’s team brought in Juju Watkins. Both players have very high ceilings, the best possible news for USC hoops’ two rising programs.

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Juju Watkins receives recognition from Los Angeles Daily News

Watkins is more than just the player of the year in L.A. hoops; she is historically great, a sign of how much talent she brings to #USC

USC Trojans women’s hoops signee Juju Watkins is bringing a ton of talent to the program next season. Watkins is widely considered the top prospect in the Class of 2023 and was a part of the first USA women’s Nike Hoop Summit team (though an ankle injury prevented her from playing this past weekend).

Now, Watkins has received another award, being named the 2023 Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Daily News, per Tarek Fattal.

The Sierra Canyon star is being discussed as one of the best players of all time in the area, and it’s hard to argue that. In her final season in high school, Watkins finished with eye-popping averages of 27.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists and was named the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Player of the Year.

What Watkins is bringing to USC is unquestioned, and Lindsay Gottlieb should have no problem inserting her right into the starting lineup. The USC women’s team is also coming off of a return to the NCAA Tournament, so there are high hopes in Southern California.

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USC women’s basketball is in perfect position to benefit from new exposure

More people are watching women’s college basketball. #USC appears to be catching the wave at just the right time.

You might have noticed that Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes are breaking TV ratings records at the Women’s Final Four. Our friends at Hawkeyes Wire have been spreading the word about this development.

It is becoming more apparent that the powers that be at the NCAA are aware of what this means. They know they need to create a new television deal which sets the Women’s NCAA Tournament apart from other NCAA sports championships and capitalizes on the surging market value in women’s basketball.

In the midst of these changing winds and emerging forces, USC women’s basketball is on the rise. The Trojans made the Women’s NCAA Tournament this year, marking the first time the Women of Troy cracked the NCAA tourney field since 2014.

USC and coach Lindsay Gottlieb are bringing in Juju Watkins, the nation’s top-ranked recruit. If Watkins lives up to the hype, USC will have its own megawatt star to promote, someone who could become the successor to Caitlin Clark as a TV ratings magnet. Moreover, Watkins could do this in Los Angeles, a major media market.

USC’s rise would be welcome in any era at any point in time, but the Women of Troy are improving precisely when a new NCAA Tournament TV deal might be arranged, and precisely one year before the Trojans leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten.

The timing could not be better for USC, which is poised to make a lot more money on women’s basketball in the next several years.

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Juju Watkins, Isaiah Collier had amazingly similar weeks for USC basketball

Juju Watkins and Isaiah Collier made parallel journeys in their national showcase games. The news is great for #USC.

Juju Watkins and Isaiah Collier have a lot in common. They are both No. 1-ranked recruits. They’re both entering the USC basketball program this year. They are both in a position to significantly increase and elevate the national profile of USC hoops.

They created more similarities and parallels at the McDonalds All-American Game on Tuesday.

Collier showed why he is the No. 1 men’s basketball recruit in the nation, scoring a game-high 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting and knocking down two of his four attempts from 3-point range, a main weakness in his game. He drew lots of fouls, collected three rebounds, had two assists, and showed his two-way prowess with two steals and a blocked shot.

Juju Watkins was presented with the Naismith Player of the Year Award at Sierra Canyon High School in Brentwood (Calif.). She also won state and national Gatorade Player of The Year honors.

Watkins, just like Collier, delivered a 25-point performance in the women’s version of the McDonald’s All-American Game in Houston on Tuesday night. Like Collier, Watkins was a co-MVP of the game.

It’s such an exciting time to be a fan of USC basketball. If these two players continue to live — and play — up to the hype they have generated, the Trojans will have highly-seeded teams at next year’s NCAA Tournaments, men and women alike.

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Juju Watkins named Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Sierra Canyon star Juju Watkins was named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year after a dominant season.

Juju Watkins capped her illustrious high school career with one of the most prestigious awards at of the HS sports level. On Monday, it was announced that the Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) star was named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Watkins had a stellar senior year, averaging 27.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.7 blocks per game as she led Sierra Canyon to a 31-1 record. She had a 45-point, 16-rebound performance on Jan. 26 and then broke her points record five nights later with a 60-point, 21-rebound performance on Jan. 31.

Listed at 6-foot-2, Watkins has entered legendary ranks among girls high school levels. She was the MVP of the FIBA World Cup championship, a McDonald’s All-American, the 2020 Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the Year, and named the Los Angeles Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year in both her sophomore and junior years (this season’s LA Times award has yet to be announced). Watkins was also Klutch Sports Group’s first female athlete client.

Gatorade also takes community service and education into consideration when choosing awards. Watkins is very involved in the neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles, working with the Watts Labor Community Action Committee established by her great-grandfather Ted Watkins.

She has said she wants to help the community gain financial literacy and education opportunities, inspire young girls to persevere through adversity, and bring Fortune 500 companies into the area.

“My angle is to inspire my community and become a frontier for women’s basketball,” Watkins said around the she signed with Klutch. “We don’t have as many resources as others, so just speaking up and being a part of that story of women’s basketball.”

She also volunteered locally for Hands of Hope and Shoes for Souls, according to Gatorade. Watkins had a 3.72 GPA.

The No. 1 player in the class of 2023, Watkins has signed with USC, where she will attend this fall.

3 finalists named for Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Gatorade has named three finalists for their 2022-2023 National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.

Gatorade has named three finalists for their 2022-2023 National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.

The three contenders for the honor are as follows:

Sierra Canyon (Calif.) G Judea “Juju” Watkins

The No. 1 ranked girls hoops player in the nation, Watkins has helped lead her team to a 31-0 record this season and is averaging just under 30 points per game. She was named the Maxpreps National Player of the Year last year. Watkins has committed to playing her college ball at USC.

Sidwell Friends (D.C.) G Jadyn Donovan

Last season Donovan also led her team to an undefeated record (30-0), while averaging 15.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game, according to MaxPreps. Donovan is ranked third overall in the recruiting class of 2023 and has committed to Duke.

Paul VI (N.J.) PG Hannah Hidalgo

Few players around the country have enjoyed a more fruitful high school career than Hidalgo. From 2019-2022 she averaged 21.5 points, 4.7 rebonds, 3.8 assists and a remarkable 5.4 steals per game. During that time her team went 61-9. Hidalgo has committed to playing for Notre Dame at the next level.

More basketball stories

USA TODAY Super 25 boys basketball power rankings

NFHS Network’s Weekly top 10 basketball highlights

Notre Dame commit among finalists for national player of the year

Quite the honor for the future Irish star.

The Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year has ended up at Notre Dame a few times. [autotag]Brianna Turner[/autotag] won it in 2014 and [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] in 2009. Two other winners, Erin Boley in 2016 and Michelle Marciniak in 1991, began their collegiate careers at Notre Dame but transferred elsewhere after one season. Another player could soon be joining those ranks.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] of Paul VI in Haddonfield, New Jersey, committed to the Irish on Nov. 15. This came a few months after winning gold with the U.S. in the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup. Now, she is one of three finalists for the Gatorade National Girls Player of the Year.

When Hidalgo announced her decision to commit to the Irish, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] said the following:

“Irish eyes are smiling! We are ecstatic to welcome five-star point guard Hannah Hidalgo to the ND family!  Hannah brings swag, competitiveness, and a relentless drive that will instantly elevate our program. She is-multi dimensional, lightning fast and tenacious defensively with a scorer’s mentality and a high basketball IQ.  Hannah does a great job of pushing pace and making everyone around her better.  The Joyce Center will be electric to watch one of the fastest backcourts in the country with the additions of Hannah, Cass Prosper and Emma Risch.”

Here are some profiles of Hidalgo and the other two finalists for this award:

USC signee Juju Watkins goes off for 60 points on senior night

Juju Watkins broke the Sierra Canyon record with 60 points while adding 21 rebounds and five steals on senior night.

On Jan. 26, Juju Watkins set a Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) record of 45 points. That school record lasted all of one weekend.

The five-star senior and USC signee blew away her previous record on Tuesday, racking up 60 points in the undefeated Trailblazers’ win over Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.). Watkins led the way on the team’s senior night, also recording 21 and five steals in the 88-39 win.

Watkins was shooting from Caitlin Clark range, drilling 3s from near half court and somehow outdoing her 45-point, 16-rebound, eight-assist game from five days prior.

Los Angeles Times reporter Luca Evans tweeted some clips of Watkins’ otherworldly performance.

Watkins is ESPN’s top-rated player in the class of 2023. She is a gold medalist, the 2020 Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the Year, a two-time Los Angeles Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year and an All-American.

In February 2022, she signed with Klutch Sports Group as the agency’s first female athlete client.

“Her ability to be someone that young women and young men look up to as a player … She just has that it,” said Klutch Sports Group CEO and Founder Rich Paul in an interview at the time with USA TODAY High School Sports.

“She approaches things the right way, she’s very astute and very understanding of her surroundings at a very young age. I’ve been around that before, so I know what that looks like. I’m excited for what’s up ahead.”

The Trailblazers, who play their final game of the regular season on Thursday night, enter with a 25-0 record and the No. 1 spot in the MaxPreps rankings.

USC fan brings up a fascinating point about Trojan revenue sports in a simple tweet

A Trojan fan made a bold claim about USC football and basketball for the 2023-2024 college sports cycle. Is he getting carried away, or is he 100% right?

Football season might be over at USC, and Trojan fans who invested a lot into the 2022 season might still be stung by the way that season ended in the Cotton Bowl versus Tulane. However, one tweet from a USC fan should pick everyone up in the land of Troy.

It was impossible to avoid noticing how much better USC men’s basketball looked on Saturday against Arizona State. A team that frankly looked like an NIT team for much of the season suddenly looked not only like an NCAA Tournament team, but also a really good NCAA Tournament team — a No. 4 or No. 3 seed — in a blowout of ASU.

The final score was 77-69, but USC led 77-53 with under five minutes left before basically turning in early and allowing the Sun Devils to score the final 16 points. The contest was a rout. USC overwhelmed an ASU team that had been very strong to that point.

The difference was Vince Iwuchukwu, who played just 14 minutes but scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in that short period of time. The 14 minutes were still modest as a total sum, but a lot more than the six minutes he played the previous week against Utah and the five minutes he played against Colorado.

The main point: We got to see what Iwuchukwu is capable of.

That leads us to this USC fan tweet which is worth a larger conversation:

Let’s dive into this discussion, shall we?