IN PICS: USC's JuJu Watkins, Kiki Iriafen and more pose for the Trojans' photo day
The USC women's basketball team held its annual photo day this Sunday. The Trojans' stars JuJu Watkins, Kiki Iriafen, Kayleigh Heckel and Kennedy Smith posed for the team and individual pictures, giving fans a glimpse of the roster ahead of the upcoming season.
On Monday, USC shared a collection of photos from the team's photo shoot on their official Instagram account.
"A little sneak peek of our Photo Day," the caption read.
In the first image, four freshmen Kennedy Smith, Avery Howell, Kayleigh Heckel and Rian Forestier were seated on the steps of a stair and dressed in USC uniforms. Smith and Heckel made hand gestures — flashing a peace sign.
The next slide featured a stunning portrait of sophomore guard Malia Samuels seated on a chair, holding a basketball as she posed candidly. Another image was of trio of JuJu Watkins, Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen posing for a selfie donning the alternate USC jersey.
After seven players from the previous season left the team, including Kaitlyn Davis and McKenzie Forbes (both drafted in the WNBA), the Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb brought in nine new players as part of a major roster upheaval.
Senior transfers von Oelhoffen and Iriafen are expected to fill the void left by Davis and Forbes in the new campaign.
Kiki Iriafen commends teammate JuJu Watkins' input
The chemistry between JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen is off the charts, as evident in the pictures shared by USC. Despite having only a short period to get to know each other, the two players have already developed a great bond.
"[0:36] I think for her she leads by example," Kiki hailed JuJu during an interview with CBS.
"So, whatever she asks of her teammates, she's making sure that she does it herself and then outside of basketball I think she's just like super fun, super goofy, like, she's still just a kid. So it's been great to connect with her a lot this summer."
Kiki averaged 19.4 points and 11 rebounds per game last season at Stanford, winning the Pac-12 most improved player award. Meanwhile, JuJu Watkins had one of the best freshman years as she averaged 27.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 3.3 apg, winning the Freshman of the Year award in the Pac-12.
With this dynamic duo and several other new additions, fans are in for a treat this season. Last season, USC clinched the Pac-12 tournament and reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans are looking to build on that success and make another deep run this year.