The Blacktop is a feature-based column that covers USC’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and the experiences that come with being a Division I athlete at a top-tier school.
A freshman. You can almost instantaneously pinpoint them while walking around campus. They always seem lost. They travel in large groups. They are truly the new kids on the block. And yet, this incoming class has proven vital to one of the top basketball teams in the country.
USC women’s basketball is no stranger to freshmen who have dominated the NCAA immediately — last year, sophomore guard JuJu Watkins averaged over 27 points a game and was a huge reason the Trojans won the last-ever women’s basketball Pac-12 Championship. But typically after a team wins their conference title and loses a bunch of players, it isn’t the incoming class that fills in the roles of players like forward McKenzie Forbes, guard Kayla Padilla and forward Kaitlyn Davis.
Well, enter stage left: freshman guards Kennedy Smith, Kayleigh Heckel and Avery Howell. Sure, USC has help from its former Pac-12 foes who transferred to Southern California: former Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen and former Oregon State guard Talia von Oelhoffen have been huge pickups for the team. However, the success of the team has also been borne upon the backs of the newcomers, who have been thrown straight into the fire of the now-No. 7 team in the country.
Smith has started in each of the 14 games that she has played in, with Heckel taking on the starting guard role in the other seven while Smith was out due to injury. They each are averaging over 17 minutes a game, and have taken over 100 shots so far this season with the lowest shooting at 43.3% and the highest at 51.5%. All three freshmen have been crucial to the success of USC, but given her summer training with the Canadian National Team, people were especially excited to see Howell and her long range, quick release three point shooting.
Before joining the Trojans, Howell spent time in the summer training with the Canadian National Team which helped her adjust to the speed of the Division I landscape — something that many people struggle with no matter what year in school they are.
“I kind of got thrown in with essentially pro basketball,” Howell said of her experience with the Canadian National Team. “Having to make that adjustment right away through the summer was really beneficial for my growth, and then mindset-wise being a freshman here at USC… that definitely helped me a lot.”
Another hard part about joining in the college environment is trying to find your role with a team that is already well established. Basically every single player at this level was the top player on their team in high school, but not everybody can be the No. 1 player on their new team, so many players struggle.
“I think I’m still trying to find my role, see what our team best needs,” Howell said. “I think we have a ton of assets in our starting five, but then, as well, all the way down the bench. We are super deep, so I think that [I am] trying to come in and help wherever I can and make an impact in whatever way possible.”
Howell did, however, say what she personally thought was the hardest part about being a freshman at this level in a post game conference after the team’s win against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
“The most challenging part of adjusting to being a freshman in college especially at this super high level is just balancing it all,” Howell said. “All your different classes, when you’re getting food between classes and lift, and then practice, finding time to do your homework but then also embracing the situation. We are so blessed to be here playing on this stage, being able to go out and play in front of all these fans and having the platform. It’s just embracing that as well as taking every moment seriously and being able to find the balance between classes, taking time for yourself, practice, and show up to your best to all of it.”
Howell had a breakout game in USC’s big win against the Purdue Boilermakers, with a team-leading 18 points. The key was that Purdue went into a zone defense to try and stop USC’s midrange attacks, which is exactly what fits Howell’s sharpshooter-like style of play. She went 4-for-7 from three and made all six free throw attempts as well.
“I think [the zone] opened up the floor for me,” Howell said. “Other people on our team draw a lot of attention, and I was able to find my spots, call for the ball, and then yeah, I was hot that game… trying to put myself in the best positions to help my teammates… and then knock down my shots.”
Just because the floor is open for her, that doesn’t mean her job is easy. Being a part of a top 10 team in the nation, Howell constantly has eyes on her looking for faults in her game. At times like these, shooters like Howell just need to remember that they are where they are for a reason: because they are some of the best in the United States.
“Being a shooter is pretty mental,” Howell said. “I feel like my shot is pretty consistent… We have a super great team, and there’s a lot of people that can score… Every single time I catch [the ball], I’m looking at the hoop first, and I’m thinking it’s going in.”
It certainly looks like she is confident lately. In the past three games, Howell has scored 38 points while shooting 10-for-16 from three.
The best part about being a freshman? You are still young and have multiple more years to go. Howell, Smith, Heckel and soon-to-be USC freshman Jazzy Davidson will terrorize oppositions for many years to come, but first, the former trio will look to win their first Big Ten Championship and the program’s first NCAA Championship since 1984.