JuJu Watkins makes her feelings known on why she chose USC over Dawn Staley's South Carolina and Kate Paye's Stanford
JuJu Watkins, a Los Angeles, California native, arrived at the University of Southern California last season as the no. 1 recruit in the country. In her first season, she bagged Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, averaging 27.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Trojans.
Watkins had a slew of options prior to landing at USC, including programs like Dawn Staley's South Carolina and Kate Paye's Stanford.
During her appearance on the "Good Game with Sarah Pain" podcast on Dec. 18, she opened up about the reasons behind her collegiate decision, shedding light on what ultimately swayed her toward USC.
"You know, for so many reasons I chose USC, but I think one of the biggest things that stood out was just the culture here," JuJu said (15:55), "the staff, Coach Lindsey, all the assistant coaches. I just, you know, got a really good vibe here and I kind of felt like everything fell into place in perfect timing in making my decision."
Another reason JuJu Watkins chose USC was the opportunity to stay close to home and her will to represent her city of Los Angeles.
"I think going to USC, my main focus is to get LA basketball back to what it used to be in college," she said in an interview in March 2023 (1:17).
"Just creating a more competitive environment for LA basketball and putting it back on the map is very important to me, which is why I made my decision to go to USC."
JuJu Watkins is putting USC women's basketball on map
USC sophomore star JuJu Watkins is doing exactly what she set out to do — bringing attention to USC and Los Angeles basketball.
In her freshman year, Watkins put up historic numbers, scoring 920 points — the most points ever scored by a freshman in NCAA history. She set the USC single-season scoring record, led the Pac-12 in scoring, and was named to the All-Pac-12 Team and the Unanimous First-Team All-American.
Last season, Watkins led the Trojans to the NCAA Elite Eight appearance for the first time since 1994. She scored 28 points in the second round matchup against Kansas, posted 30 against Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen, and had 29 against UConn in the Elite Eight.
This campaign, JuJu Watkins has continued to dazzle, averaging 24.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game — leading the Trojans to an 11-1 record. She scored a game-high 25 points in USC's win over Paige Bueckers' UConn on Saturday