University Southern California Trojans
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/ Women's Basketball
Photo by: Katie Chin/USC Athletics
USC’s JuJu Watkins Named The Athletic’s National Player of the Year
March 03, 2025 | Women's Basketball
Sophomore guard has helped USC to its first regular-season conference title since 1994.
LOS ANGELES — USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins has earned a significant accolade in her second season as a Trojan in being select The Athletic's National Player of the Year. She was the outlet's Freshman of the Year pick last season, and has since helped USC win the Big Ten regular-season championship while picking up eight straight victories over AP-ranked opponents.
Watkins herself has gone big in USC's six games against AP top-10 opponents in particular. After posting her 20th career 30-point game to help propel her Trojans to an 80-67 win over rival No. 2 UCLA to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, Watkins is averaging 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks while shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range against top-10 opponents. That's better than her overall and also impressive season averages of 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in USC's push to a 26-2 regular-season finish.
Also this season, Watkins became the first basketball player at the Division I collegiate, WNBA and NBA levels since 2000 to score 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a single game with her work for the Women of Troy their win over then-No. 1 UCLA at Galen Center.
Watkins has also earned nods as a 2025 Sullivan Award semifinalist, along with being in the running for a second straight Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award. She's also on watch lists for the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Dawn Staley Award — some of collegiate women's basketball's highest honors.
In the USC record books, Watkins ranks No. 11 all-time in career scoring with 1,604 points — having become the fastest Trojan to score 1,000 career points in program history earlier this season — and with the second-most 30-point games by a Trojan. WIth 38 points and 30 points vs. USC rival UCLA this season, Watkins now has 20 career 30-point games — five short of Cheryl Miller's career record of 25.
Watkins herself has gone big in USC's six games against AP top-10 opponents in particular. After posting her 20th career 30-point game to help propel her Trojans to an 80-67 win over rival No. 2 UCLA to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, Watkins is averaging 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks while shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range against top-10 opponents. That's better than her overall and also impressive season averages of 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in USC's push to a 26-2 regular-season finish.
Also this season, Watkins became the first basketball player at the Division I collegiate, WNBA and NBA levels since 2000 to score 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a single game with her work for the Women of Troy their win over then-No. 1 UCLA at Galen Center.
Watkins has also earned nods as a 2025 Sullivan Award semifinalist, along with being in the running for a second straight Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award. She's also on watch lists for the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Dawn Staley Award — some of collegiate women's basketball's highest honors.
In the USC record books, Watkins ranks No. 11 all-time in career scoring with 1,604 points — having become the fastest Trojan to score 1,000 career points in program history earlier this season — and with the second-most 30-point games by a Trojan. WIth 38 points and 30 points vs. USC rival UCLA this season, Watkins now has 20 career 30-point games — five short of Cheryl Miller's career record of 25.
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