With nine games of 30 or more points as a true freshman, JuJu Watkins has broken a USC record set by Cherie Nelson back in the 1988-89 season.
Watkins scored a career-high 51 points against No. 4 Stanford on their home court. She followed this career night by dropping 29 against unranked Cal. The next game against Arizona, Watkins dropped 32 points. These are three games out of the many in which Watkins showed her scoring ability.
Watkins was the nationally ranked No. 1 recruit and high school player of the year. Coming into USC, she faced high expectations.
“She’s a freshman in college doing what other players in women’s college basketball just don’t do at all, like breaking the Pac-12 records, USC records,” said Titus Ervin, a sophomore USC student studying human biology and manager for the USC men’s basketball team. “There are expectations coming into the season, but to see her exceed these expectations already — it’s crazy to see.”
During her freshman season, Watkins is averaging 27.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Watkins has taken the USC community and the nation by storm, and students are excited about having Watkins for more than one year.
“I feel like the time that this is all happening is important because most people associate USC sports with the men’s sports, so to have a strong women’s athlete, it shows how good our women’s team is,” Nia Mitchell, a USC senior communications major, said. “It is impressive and fun to watch, and more people should come out to support.”
Some students want to see Watkins marketed more and pushed out more like they do the male athletes.
“I think the biggest thing is to continue to promote the games,” Kameron Lewis, a USC master’s student studying marketing, said. “Going into next year, continue to put her on the big stage and hopefully go every year into March Madness.”
Watkins isn’t the only women’s basketball star gaining national media attention now. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who is on pace to break Kelsey Plum’s NCAA Division I scoring record of 3,527 career points, has also obtained national attention. Teams with multiple stars like LSU and South Carolina are also a part of the movement to uplift women’s college basketball.
“Caitlin Clark has been a magical figure in attracting attention across sports,” said Jeff Fellenzer, a professor of professional practice teaching sports, business and media at USC. “People have just been caught up in watching her game since the 2023 Final Four.”
College women’s basketball is the hot commodity right now in sports. The mid-regular season game between South Carolina and LSU brought in 1.6 million viewers on ESPN. There were two NBA primetime games on that night, and the college game topped both. It wasn’t even the most-viewed women’s basketball game this season; the mid-January Ohio State-Iowa game brought in 1.9 million viewers on NBC.
“These numbers are a result of the excitement that was created during the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. That really helped things take off and catch fire,” Fellenzer said. “Nationally there has never been more interest, and it looks like a pretty balanced field around the country. There’s a lot of teams that potentially could play well in the tournament this season.”
Additionally, there are other players and teams out there that would love to show off their skills as well on all levels of women’s college basketball.
“The amount of coverage we are now getting should have been here a long time ago. It could be improved by including coverage of women’s basketball at all college levels, not just the high-major schools,” said Whitney Dunn, a sophomore guard at the Historically Black Alabama State University. “Between performing on the court skillswise and showing attitude and passion for the game, I think the stars have truly helped to expand women’s basketball coverage.”
As a player in a lower division that doesn’t catch too much attention, Dunn says there’s hidden gems of talent there too.
“There are so many talented women on this level that are often taken for granted because of this being the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC),” said Dunn. “If we had more camera time like bigger schools, people would see.”