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USC’s Kiki Iriafen, JuJu Watkins Secure Spots On Wade Watch List
November 12, 2024 | Women's Basketball
The Trojan duo are on the 15-player watch list for one of collegiate basketball’s highest honors.
LOS ANGELES — USC women's basketball stars Kiki Iriafen and JuJu Watkins have landed on another prestigious honor roll, selected today to the Wade Watch List, as announced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Iriafen and Watkins are two of 15 players on the list of candidates for the 2025 Wade Trophy, which is presented to the best player in college women's basketball.
A 6-3 forward who was named the 2024 Katrina McClain National Power Forward of the Year, Kiki Iriafen has joined the USC women's basketball program as a grad transfer out of Stanford. A 2024 All-America Honorable Mention recipient after a standout junior season with the Cardinal, Iriafen continues to raise the bar for herself with her first Wade Watch List pick coming soon after her first selection to the Wooden Award Watch List. An AP Preseason All-American, Iriafen also has been honored on the Naismith Trophy Watch List and the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Watch list for 2024-25.
A finalist for last year's Wade Trophy, 6-2 guard JuJu Watkins was the National Freshman of the Year and the No. 2 scorer in the nation last season. Now in her sophomore campaign with the Women of Troy, she has already tallied at least 30 points in 14 games — a USC single-season record — and is closing in on her 1,000th career point. Watkins was a unanimous selection for this year's AP Preseason All-America list. The 2024 WBCA Freshman of the Year, Watkins also has been honored on the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award watch lists as well as the Anne Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Watch List for 2024-25. She was the 2024 Drysdale Award winner as a freshman.
Iriafen, Watkins and the Women of Troy continue their four-game home stretch this week with a pair of contests at Galen Center. Tonight (Nov. 12), USC hosts CSUN at 7 p.m. before turning to a Friday (Nov. 15) meeting with Santa Clara at 12 p.m.
About the Wade Trophy
The Wade Trophy — now in its 48th year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women's basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I Player of the Year since 2001.
The Wade Watch list of candidates for the Wade Trophy is composed of players selected by the WBCA NCAA Division I Awards Committee. The committee will review the list midseason to determine if additional players will be added based on their play during the first half of the 2024-25 season. The winner of the award will be announced in April during the 2025 WBCA Convention in Tampa — site of the 2025 NCAA Women's Final Four.
About the Women's Basketball Coaches Association
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association.
A 6-3 forward who was named the 2024 Katrina McClain National Power Forward of the Year, Kiki Iriafen has joined the USC women's basketball program as a grad transfer out of Stanford. A 2024 All-America Honorable Mention recipient after a standout junior season with the Cardinal, Iriafen continues to raise the bar for herself with her first Wade Watch List pick coming soon after her first selection to the Wooden Award Watch List. An AP Preseason All-American, Iriafen also has been honored on the Naismith Trophy Watch List and the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Watch list for 2024-25.
A finalist for last year's Wade Trophy, 6-2 guard JuJu Watkins was the National Freshman of the Year and the No. 2 scorer in the nation last season. Now in her sophomore campaign with the Women of Troy, she has already tallied at least 30 points in 14 games — a USC single-season record — and is closing in on her 1,000th career point. Watkins was a unanimous selection for this year's AP Preseason All-America list. The 2024 WBCA Freshman of the Year, Watkins also has been honored on the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award watch lists as well as the Anne Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Watch List for 2024-25. She was the 2024 Drysdale Award winner as a freshman.
Iriafen, Watkins and the Women of Troy continue their four-game home stretch this week with a pair of contests at Galen Center. Tonight (Nov. 12), USC hosts CSUN at 7 p.m. before turning to a Friday (Nov. 15) meeting with Santa Clara at 12 p.m.
About the Wade Trophy
The Wade Trophy — now in its 48th year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women's basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I Player of the Year since 2001.
The Wade Watch list of candidates for the Wade Trophy is composed of players selected by the WBCA NCAA Division I Awards Committee. The committee will review the list midseason to determine if additional players will be added based on their play during the first half of the 2024-25 season. The winner of the award will be announced in April during the 2025 WBCA Convention in Tampa — site of the 2025 NCAA Women's Final Four.
About the Women's Basketball Coaches Association
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit www.WBCA.org for more details about the Association.
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