Paige Bueckers vs JuJu Watkins: Which college basketball star was the better hooper in high school?

Modified Dec 23, 2024 17:57 GMT

Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins are currently two of the best players in women's basketball. Bueckers averages 20.8 points per game for UConn while Watkins 24.8 ppg for the Trojans. However, when the two locked horns, it was Watkins and the USC who came out on top, defeating Bueckers and UConn in an extremely tight 72–70 win.

While the two have established themselves as two of the finest players in the sport, stats as well as accolades show that JuJu Watkins had a better high school career than Paige Beuckers.

JuJu Watkins' high school stats

JuJu Watkins played for Los Angeles schools Windward High School and Sierra Canyon. In her two seasons at Windward High School, Watkins was close to averaging a double-double with 21.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg. In her sophomore year, she averaged a double-double with 27.0 ppg and 12.0 rpg and was named SportsKidst of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2020.

The Los Angeles, CA, native transferred to Sierra Canyon in her junior year and was named the California Gatorade Player of the Year and California's Ms. Basketball after posting averages of 25.0 ppg, 10.6 rpg and 3.2 apg to lead Sierra Canyon to an Open Division State title and a 30-2 record.

She led Sierra Canyon to a 31-1 record and the CIF Southern Section Open Division title while averaging 27.3 ppg, 13.8 rpg and 3.6 apg. She also scored a career-high 60 points against Notre Dame. The No. 1 player in the 2023 class had offers from South Carolina and Stanford but committed to USC on Nov. 15, 2023.

Paige Bueckers' high school stats

Paige Bueckers played for Hopkins High School for five years, making her debut on Nov. 25, 2016, where she had 28 points, five steals and four assists. In her freshman year, Bueckers averaged 20.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.5 spg and 4.1 apg to win the All-Metro first-team honor from Star Tribune after leading her school to a 31-1 record.

Her sophomore year was affected by an ankle injury that kept her out for two months. Despite that injury, Bueckers led Hopkins to a 28-4 record, however, her 37 points were not enough as Hopkins was defeated in the Class 4A state title match. She became the first sophomore to win the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year award.

As a junior, Paige Bueckers surpassed the 2000-point mark averaging 24.4 ppg, 5.1 apg, 4.9 rpg and 4.6 spg per contest, winning the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year award again. In her senior year, she led the Hopkins Class 4A state championship game, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She averaged 21.4 ppg, 9.4 apg, 5.4 spg and 5 rpg, leading Hopkins to 62 consecutive wins.

Paige Bueckers was ranked the best player in the Class of 2020 class and had offers from South Carolina, Oregon, Maryland and more before she committed to UConn on Apr. 1, 2019.