USC’s Watkins Named AP Women’s Player of the Year

Her game was smooth like butter.

The 2024-25 campaign did not end the way USC women’s basketball star JuJu Watkins would have liked, with her and her teammates cutting down the nets on Sunday but the outstanding and talented sophomore more than proved herself over the course of the season.

It was no surprise that Watkins was named the women’s 2025 Naismith National Player of the Year on Wednesday. She put up great numbers all around, averaging 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, leading the Trojans to a 31-4 record and 17-1 Big Ten conference mark. USC earned a No. 1 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament but saw their season end abruptly in the Elite Eight after Watkins’ season was cut short due to a knee injury in the second round.

“I think what’s so significant about this award is that this was a year that didn’t have an absence of talent and stars, and JuJu found a way to elevate herself and her team,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

Watkins became just the fourth player to win the award in her sophomore year, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (2007) and UConn stars Maya Moore (2009) and Breanna Stewart (2014). The AP first started giving out the award three decades ago back in 1995, and Watkins is the first Trojans player to win it.

“She makes a lot of things that aren’t easy look easy,” Gottlieb said. “It’s one thing to say she’s a generational talent, but another to actually do it and put yourself up with names like Stewie, Maya and Courtney Paris.”

Paige Bueckers and UConn defeated the Trojans without their leader Watkins, 78-64 on Monday. Watkins was named the Player of the Year over Bueckers, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, and cross-town rival Lauren Betts of UCLA.

Watkins was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year and was given unanimous first-team All-American honors. She saw her season end in heartbreaking fashion on March 24 against the Georgia Bulldogs in second-round action when she became entangled with a Bulldogs’ defender on a fastbreak attempt. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Watkins tore her ACL.

She talked about the injury for the first time on Tuesday.
“Thank you for all the incredible love and support,” Watkins posted to her social media platform. “Seeing all your messages and kind words has meant the world to me — ya’ll have given me so much hope.

“Right now, my heart is with my teammates — I wish I could have been out there battling, but I couldn’t be prouder of the fight we’ve fought together. Thank you all.”

Here is a look at Watkins’ career stats at USC over her first two seasons:
• 2023-24: 27.1 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game, 2.3 steals per game and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 40.1% from the field (31.9% 3-point shooting)
• 2024-25: 23.9 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game, 2.2 steals per game and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 42.6% from the field (32.5% 3-point shooting)

Watkins is already one of the most exciting players and top draws in the sport, with endorsement deals to match, most notably State Farm and seeing her live has become a hotter ticket.

The Trojans’ average home attendance skyrocketed to 5,932 this season from last year’s 4,421. A-List Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Kevin Hart, Jason Sudeikis, Michael B. Jordan and Sanaa Lathan, who starred in “Love & Basketball,” one of Watkins’ favorite movies, have shown up. The year before she arrived on the scene, attendance was a scarcity, averaging 1,037.