Good JuJu? No. Great JuJu. USC’s superstar had the best game of the college basketball season. By anyone.
This was one for the ages, folks. A freshman not only scored 51 points, but did so against the No. 4 team in the country, led by one of the elite defensive players in the country and guided by a Hall of Fame head coach who just became the winningest Division I basketball coach of all time. JuJu Watkins led USC to an upset of Stanford, Cameron Brink, and Tara VanDerveer, with an all-time-great performance.
Have we mentioned that JuJu Watkins is only a freshman?
Watkins faced a Stanford defense which was trying to stop her and straining to get the ball out of her hands. It didn’t work. It didn’t matter. Watkins kept making 3-pointers. She kept getting to the foul line, something we have continuously pointed to as a central key to her game and USC’s success.
Watkins’ final stat line: 14 of 26 field goals, 6 of 11 3-pointers, 17 of 19 free throws. 51, baby. She almost scored as many points as Stanford (58).
See how social media reacted to this historically awesome performance from JuJu Watkins:
The ACC used to seemingly stack bye weeks for their squads before they took on Notre Dame but that won’t happen in 2024.
Seemingly for years it has been commonplace for opponents to get a bye week before they take on Notre Dame, specifically in the ACC. This peaked in 2019 when seven of Notre Dame’s 12 opponents took on the Irish coming off a bye with three of those being ACC squads that year.
Last year, no Notre Dame opponent was coming off a bye week when they squared off against the Irish.
Now for 2024, although some details remain for the schedule, we do know that no ACC opponent (there are five) will have a bye week before they take on the Irish. The full ACC football schedule was released earlier this week and can be seen below.
Notre Dame takes on five ACC opponents in 2024 (Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Stanford, and Virginia). All five play ACC opponents the week before taking on Notre Dame.
Also, it’s going to probably take forever for me to get used to Stanford (and Cal and SMU for that matter) being in the ACC.
Here’s what you need to know about the new head coach in Los Angeles.
The Chargers have an agreement in place with Jim Harbaugh to become their next head coach.
Here are some things to know about the lifetime football coach and recent college football national champion.
Success in both the college and pros
It’s probably the same thing you’ve read everything else, but it’s true: Harbaugh is a winner wherever he goes. At San Diego, he was responsible for the only 11-win seasons in school history. He brought Stanford to national relevance with an 11-win season and the first BCS Bowl victory in school history.
What separates Harbaugh from most college coaches is that he was then able to take his success to the pros. His NFL experience in San Francisco is defined by an NFC Championship, multiple playoff appearances, and a 49-22-1 record.
After a power struggle with the Niners, Harbaugh returned to his alma mater at Michigan and cemented his college legacy with a national championship.
Physicality
Harbaugh probably wouldn’t be identified as an offensive or defensive specialist, specifically in the same way traditional coordinators are hired for head coaching positions. But both sides of the ball for him at any of his stops play tremendously hard and physical.
Michigan’s secondary flies around with a smothering presence up front under Jesse Minter and Harbaugh. In a similar but different fashion, many remember the 2010 49ers defense filled with guys like NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis laying the smackdown.
That aspect of culture that Harbaugh can build is sorely needed for the current Chargers’ defense.
The Chargers went big game hunting
Harbaugh will be the first Chargers’ head coach with prior head coaching experience since Norv Turner was hired in 2007. And unlike Turner, Michigan’s head coach will command a high salary over his current coaching contract.
The Chargers reportedly put a premium on experience in this head coaching search per reports. Harbaugh was undoubtedly one of the top candidates in the field in that regard, in addition to football coaching lifers like Bill Belichick or Pete Carroll.
While Brandon Staley and Anthony Lynn were decent candidates for promotion to head coach in their own rights, there was a certain cache they couldn’t bring to the table as the lead guy at the time of hiring. The Chargers valued that level of proven football acumen in this search instead of letting an unproven commodity grow.
What also shouldn’t be understated is what it took to pry Harbaugh away from Michigan. The Chargers had to go all out in this pursuit, and by all accounts, they did.
A full Rolodex for potential staff hires
Harbaugh comes loaded with names that could be placed on his coaching staff as he plans to build that out in Los Angeles. From Michigan to as far back as Stanford, quality talent could be the new Chargers’ head coach.
Jesse Minter and Greg Roman have been heavily rumored and thrown about the process for the defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator positions, respectively. But even if not one of those selections, there are plenty more potential connections to hit on.
David Shaw, a fellow interviewer for the head coaching job, was Harbaugh’s OC at Stanford. Ed Donatell, Ejiro Evero, Pep Hamilton, and others have also worked with Harbaugh at various stops. Of course Jay Harbaugh also notably serves as special teams coordinator and safeties coach at Michigan.
Whoever the hires end up being, there’s an excellent pool for Harbaugh to choose from—far more than even the examples listed in the previous paragraph.
Not just a head coach, but a CEO
The Chargers’ GM search is also in the process of continuing as the team hires Harbaugh. But the former Michigan HC is also built differently as a candidate in this stage of his career than the more recent group of Chargers’ head coaches. Regardless of who the Chargers hire as GM, the effort in LA is more likely to be collaborative than Harbaugh being directly under someone.
Ideologies and egos clashed in San Francisco when Trent Baalke and Harbaugh eventually parted ways following a power struggle in 2014. The new Chargers’ head coach can now oversee the roster and have significantly more say in personnel decisions than his previous NFL tenure.
As a culture builder in the NFL and an outright program builder in college, Harbaugh knows how difficult the task ahead is. And he believes he can be the one primarily in charge of executing it.
Stanford defensive line transfer Jaxson Moi commits to Tennessee.
Stanford sophomore defensive lineman Jaxson Moi entered the NCAA transfer portal on Dec. 31, 2023.
The 6-foot-2, 303-pound defensive lineman committed to Tennessee on Sunday.
Moi appeared in 24 games at Stanford from 2022-23. He recorded 37 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, one sack and three pass deflections.
He went to Stanford from Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, California.
Moi joins Miles Kitselman (tight end), Lance Heard (offensive line), Jalen McMurray (cornerback), Jermod McCoy (cornerback), Holden Staes (tight end), Chris Brazzell (wide receiver) and Jakobe Thomas (safety) as student-athletes who transferred to Tennessee during the offseason.
Tennessee will kick off its 2024 season versus Chattanooga on Aug. 31 at Neyland Stadium. 2024 will be the fourth season for the Vols under head coach Josh Heupel.
With 96 wins in his 12 seasons, David Shaw is the winningest coach at Stanford.
The Chargers completed their head coach interview with David Shaw, the team announced on Thursday.
Shaw, 51, previously was Stanford’s head coach from 2011 to 2022, overtaking Jim Harbaugh when he left the school to become the head coach of the 49ers in 2011.
In 12 seasons at Stanford, Shaw had a 96-54 record. He had three Pac-12 conference titles and two Rose Bowl wins.
Shaw and Harbaugh have ties that go back to 2006. That year, Shaw was Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator at the University of San Diego. In 2007, Shaw followed Harbaugh to Stanford in the same role until 2010.
Shaw has NFL experience, working as a quality control coach with the Raiders and Eagles. He’s also been the quarterbacks coach with the Raiders and QBs and wide receivers coach with the Ravens.
Before his time in the NFL, Shaw was an outside linebackers coach and tight ends coach at Western Washington.
“Just a little bit of adjustments here and there, which kind of I guess throws off your offseason schedule.”
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rose Zhang is back at Stanford. Well, technically she’s in Florida this week for the LPGA season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions – to the dismay of her professors.
Zhang stayed up past midnight Tuesday doing schoolwork, making that 7:30 a.m. pro-am a quick turnaround. She told the media Wednesday afternoon that she’s carrying a full course load with classes in journalism, political science and media psych.
A self-described people pleaser, the 20-year-old pro said she’s starting to learn the crucial life skill of saying no, which judging by the sound of her to-do list is becoming increasingly essential.
“Coming into this event it was a little bit of a hustle to kind of get things in order,” she said. “I have new clubs in the bag. I’m trying to figure out my putter situation. Health-wise been a lot happening, too. So just a little bit of adjustments here and there, which kind of I guess throws off your offseason schedule.
“I also moved, so I’ve been moving three different places. Moving from Irvine to Vegas, Vegas to Stanford. And I also finished week one of school. … It’s been fun.”
Rose Zhang holds up the trophy after winning the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo: Adam Hunger/Associated Press)
Zhang won her first LPGA event as a professional, the Mizuho Americas Open, one week after clinching her second NCAA title. The victory qualified her for the TOC, which will be her only start this month. She’ll take off the spring Asian swing (four events) and return to action at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club. She plans to graduate with a degree in communications after five years at Stanford in 2026.
“Stanford has a requirement of 180 units,” she explained. “I finished around 90-ish units. I’m just going to keep doing the 20 units per winter quarter. Maybe take a couple online classes if I’m allowed to in other quarters.”
This week Zhang has all new Callaway clubs, including the Epic Forged Star irons. She’d played with Apex irons since age 13 and made the switch in an effort to gain more distance control.
“Even though I was hitting really well with the Apex irons, there were some cases where my ball was too hot coming off the face,” she said. “It’s been generating a couple different noises that I would probably not appreciate as much on the golf course.”
As for her health, Zhang said she began working with a nutritionist after she felt her body wasn’t processing food as well after the stress of global travel. She’d feel bloated after a plate of vegetables.
She cut out soy, gluten and dairy to clear out her system and will reintroduce those foods in time.
“These are not, in my opinion, like crazy health concerns,” she said. “It’s more so how am I able to optimize my performance in-season and traveling everywhere with the time differences and time zones, what would make me perform well.”
While Zhang calls her winter quarter at Stanford a simpler time, she’s constantly surrounded by overachievers and can’t help but find inspiration at every turn. Everyone she knows is grinding, and she feels the need to do the same, though she’s not a results-driven person.
“I’m not someone who wants a certain ranking by the end of the year,” she said, “or I want to win this event by the end of the year.”
The flashy carrots like qualifying for the Paris Olympics and Solheim Cup will take care of themselves, she figures. Besides, Zhang considers her time at Stanford an incredible opportunity rather than a detractor from her full-time job.
Michelle Wie West of the United States plays her shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on July 07, 2023 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Few in the game can relate to the path Zhang has chosen better than Michelle Wie West, who began her career at Stanford while playing full-time on the LPGA, winning twice on tour while earning her degree in communications.
“I felt like I had a double persona, a double life,” said Wie West last summer at her final U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. “I was one thing out here – I had to act way more maturely than I really was out here because I was playing with older women – and when I went to school, I was kind of my old goofy self.
“So it really helps, I think, to kind of separate it and treat this as work and then you go back, and that’s your life.”
Notre Dame and Oregon State will face each other in a Sun Bowl that already is giving a real boost to the economy of El Paso, Texas. The least these teams can do is give the locals a thriller in a sold-out stadium. With so many regulars on both sides missing, that might happen purely on accident. This will be a must-watch.
There are plentiful predictions for this game. Here are some of them:
Notre Dame’s independence is a major part of what makes it unique. The drawback to that is except for USC, Navy and Stanford, no annual rivalries are played. That means none within the state of Indiana. Perhaps it was for that reason that the Irish were left out of Twitter college list aficionado Big Game Boomer’s chart listing the “Big Brother” program and “Little Brother” program in all 50 states, if applicable:
The Irish and Boilermakers will play each other five consecutive years between 2024 and 2028. They have a home-and-home scheduled with the Hoosiers in 2030 and 2031. However, neither program is facing each other this year, which possibly factored into the Irish being snubbed. Bur perhaps the biggest factor is that the Irish aren’t conference rivals with either program.
If the Irish join the Big Ten in the future for whatever reason, perhaps we can revisit this list. Until then, that appears out of the question. Oh well. At least the Irish are supposed to have a better year than both programs.
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Notre Dame finished the 2023 regular season with a 9-3 record after demolishing Stanford, 56-23. It took a while for the Irish to put a stranglehold on this game, but once it did, there was no stopping them. They excelled in all three parts of the game, especially in the second half. Just as quickly as the Cardinal thought they had a shot at an upset, those thoughts had no choice but to dissipate.
The Irish might not win a national championship this year, but you can’t say this season has been filled with some fun moments, and there still is a bowl game to go. While we won’t know for a bit which bowl game that will be, you better believe the Irish will be ready to play it. That has happened so much this season, so why not one more time?
Here’s how Irish fans reacted to the final game of the regular season:
Notre Dame didn’t start off well against Stanford, but that changed as the game progressed. By the fourth quarter, all that was left was to take whatever was left of the Cardinal’s soul. What was the best way to do that? How about [autotag]Jason Onye[/autotag] blocking a field-goal attempt and [autotag]Javontae Jean-Baptiste[/autotag] returning the ball 60 yards to the house?
Jean-Baptiste is 6-foot-4, 260 pounds. That’s all you need to know about the improbability of this play. There surely are many moments Jean-Baptiste will remember when his Irish career is over, but this one has to be near if not at the top of the list. One simply has to love when a defensive lineman gets a moment to shine with the ball.
As one might have guessed, social media was ablaze with this moment. You don’t see this happen every football game, so it deserves to be celebrated once it’s seen:
