USC’s Watkins Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year; Forbes and Marshall Also Earn Conference Honors

In a season that has seen the USC women's basketball team earn its highest national rankings and most regular-season victories in 30 years, three Women of Troy have picked up All-Pac-12 honors with postseason play just around the corner. JuJu Watkins leads the way as USC's sixth player to be named Freshman of the Year by the conference, and she's joined on the All-Pac-12 Team by grad student McKenzie Forbes. Watkins also has company on the All-Defensive Honorable Mention list, alongside junior Rayah Marshall there, with Marshall also earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.

Also today, JuJu Watkins was selected as one of five finalists for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which goes to the top shooting guard in the nation. Watkins has been instrumental in USC's outstanding season to date, leading the Trojans in scoring in 25 of the 27 games in which she's played while notching a new USC record with her 12 games with 30 or more points scored. The No. 2 scorer in the nation with her 27.8 points per game set another USC record with a 51-point outing in a USC road upset of Stanford, and that mark still stands as the most points scored by any player in the nation this season. But Watkins provides more than just scoring for these No. 5-ranked Trojans. She's the team's second leading rebounder with 7.2 per game, and she's averaging 2.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. In fact, she is now one of just five Pac-12 players ever to tally at least 750 points, 150 rebounds and 50 steals in a season. And she is the first player to sweep the Pac-12 weekly awards (Player and Freshman) more than once in a season with her three sweeps this season.

In her first season as a Trojan, grad student McKenzie Forbes has also been an impact player and a leader in USC's run to its highest-ever Pac-12 Tournament seeding at No. 2. A full-time starter, she's second on the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game and is just a step behind Watkins in 3-point makes with 55 to date. The versatile Trojan has been named to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Top 10 List, and she's been both a Pac-12 Player of the Week and Drysdale National Player of the Week. The veteran has also set a new career high with a 36-point effort at Long Beach State — one of her 20 double-digit outings for USC so far.

Junior center Rayah Marshall continues her presence on the Pac-12 honor roll with her All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and Defensive Honorable Mention this season. Also on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, Marshall is averaging a double-double with 10.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, as she's coming off back-to-back double-doubles on USC's final road trip of the regular season. Marshall ranks No. 17 in the nation with her 7.4 defensive rebounds per game, and she's No. 24 in the land with 2.12 blocks per game. She's also currently 26 rebounds away from USC's all-time top-10 in career boards, and she already ranks No. 3 all-time in career blocks at USC with 222.

No. 5 USC is heading to to Las Vegas this week for competition at the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament. No. 2 seeded USC (23-5) opens up in the quarterfinals on Thursday (March 7) against either Arizona or Washington at 6 p.m. to fight for a spot in the March 8 semifinals. The Pac-12 Championship game is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday (March 10). All the action takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

2024 PAC-12 AWARDS
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year:
JuJu Watkins

All-Pac-12 Team:
McKenzie Forbes
JuJu Watkins

All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention:
Rayah Marshall

All-Defensive Honorable Mention:
Rayah Marshall
JuJu Watkins

All-Freshman Team:
JuJu Watkins

2024 PAC-12 MEDIA AWARDS (selected by Pac-12 media members)
Media Pac-12 Freshman of the Year:
JuJu Watkins

Media All-Pac-12 Team:
JuJu Watkins

Media All-Defensive Team:
JuJu Watkins

Media All-Freshman Team:
JuJu Watkins

Players Mentioned

McKenzie Forbes

Rayah Marshall

JuJu Watkins