Photo by: Katie Chin
USC’s JuJu Watkins Selected As A Honda Basketball Award Finalist
April 08, 2025 | Women's Basketball
This is her second selection as a finalist for the prestigious award.
USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins' list of 2024-25 accolades has stretched to include consideration for one of collegiate women's basketball's highest honors, today named one of four finalists for the Honda Sport Award for women's basketball by The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). This is Watkins' second selection as a finalist for the Honda Award. USC previously had two other Trojans win the Honda Basketball Award in Cheryl Miller (1984 and 1985) and Lisa Leslie (1994).
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 49 years, recognizing the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and symbolizing "the best of the best in collegiate athletics." The recipient of the sport award will become a finalist for the prestigious Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2025 Honda Cup, which will be presented during the live broadcast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on June 30, at 7 p.m. ET, on CBS Sports Network.
Watkins, who sustained a season-ending injury on March 24 in the NCAA Second Round, won the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy and was named the Associated Press Player of the Year this week. She has also been named the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year by the USBWA and is one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy, which Miller won in 1985. A finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Watkins has a place on the John R. Wooden Award All-America Team and is also one of five players in the running for the Wooden Award.
Already named the National Player of the Year by The Athletic and Sporting News as well as an All-America First Team pick by the AP, USBWA and Sporting News, Watkins went big in the seven games she played against AP top-10 opponents this season in particular. Watkins posted her 20th career 30-point game to help propel her Trojans to an 80-67 win over rival No. 2 UCLA to claim the Big Ten regular-season championship. The Big Ten Player of the Year, Watkins is averaging 26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range against top-10 opponents. That's better than her overall and also-impressive averages of 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game in her sophomore season.
Also this year, 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.
In the USC record books, Watkins ranks No. 9 all-time in career scoring with 1,709 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 21 career 30-point games — four shy of Cheryl Miller's career record of 25.
This is Watkins' second season on the AP, Sporting News and USBWA All-America First Teams as well as the Wooden All-America Team. A Sullivan Award semifinalist, Watkins also is a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award, which is given annually to a player who exemplifies the skills that Dawn possessed throughout her career, ball handling, scoring, her ability to distribute the basketball and her will to win.
Earlier this season, Watkins collected AP Preseason All-America status as well as numerous USBWA Drysdale Player of the Week, AP National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week selections.
This year's basketball finalists — Watkins, Madison Booker (Texas), Paige Bueckers (UConn) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) — were chosen by a panel of experts and coaches from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Honda Sport award winner for basketball will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 49 years, recognizing the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and symbolizing "the best of the best in collegiate athletics." The recipient of the sport award will become a finalist for the prestigious Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2025 Honda Cup, which will be presented during the live broadcast of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Presented by Honda on June 30, at 7 p.m. ET, on CBS Sports Network.
Watkins, who sustained a season-ending injury on March 24 in the NCAA Second Round, won the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy and was named the Associated Press Player of the Year this week. She has also been named the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year by the USBWA and is one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy, which Miller won in 1985. A finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Watkins has a place on the John R. Wooden Award All-America Team and is also one of five players in the running for the Wooden Award.
Already named the National Player of the Year by The Athletic and Sporting News as well as an All-America First Team pick by the AP, USBWA and Sporting News, Watkins went big in the seven games she played against AP top-10 opponents this season in particular. Watkins posted her 20th career 30-point game to help propel her Trojans to an 80-67 win over rival No. 2 UCLA to claim the Big Ten regular-season championship. The Big Ten Player of the Year, Watkins is averaging 26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range against top-10 opponents. That's better than her overall and also-impressive averages of 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game in her sophomore season.
Also this year, 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.
In the USC record books, Watkins ranks No. 9 all-time in career scoring with 1,709 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 21 career 30-point games — four shy of Cheryl Miller's career record of 25.
This is Watkins' second season on the AP, Sporting News and USBWA All-America First Teams as well as the Wooden All-America Team. A Sullivan Award semifinalist, Watkins also is a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award, which is given annually to a player who exemplifies the skills that Dawn possessed throughout her career, ball handling, scoring, her ability to distribute the basketball and her will to win.
Earlier this season, Watkins collected AP Preseason All-America status as well as numerous USBWA Drysdale Player of the Week, AP National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week selections.
This year's basketball finalists — Watkins, Madison Booker (Texas), Paige Bueckers (UConn) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) — were chosen by a panel of experts and coaches from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Honda Sport award winner for basketball will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
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