After USC’s inaugural Big Ten season, JuJu Watkins now holds the title of Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year. Despite the star guard’s season-ending injury in late March, she made a significant impact on not only USC but the entire Big Ten Conference.
Watkins secured almost every major national accolade and helped USC win the Big Ten regular-season title and claim a top seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Her other awards include the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award, the Dawn Staley Award (for the second consecutive year) and the USBWA’s Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year. She was also a finalist for the Wade Trophy, the Honda Award and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
In addition to the conference honors, Watkins was also recognized as National Player of the Year by the Associated Press, The Athletic and Sporting News. This past season, she averaged 26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in matchups against top-10 opponents. These numbers exceeded her already impressive season averages of 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks.
Watkins now sits ninth on USC’s all-time scoring list with 1,709 career points, and is the fastest player in program history to surpass 1,000. Her 21 career 30-point games place her just four games shy of surpassing former star forward Cheryl Miller’s school record of 25.
A significant moment for Watkins this past season was in USC’s win over top-ranked UCLA at Galen Center, where she became the first player across Division I, the WNBA, or the NBA since 2000 to post a stat line of 38 points, 11 rebounds, 8 blocks and five assists in a single game.
Her weekly awards were unstoppable as well, earning AP Preseason All-American recognition and multiple National and Big Ten Player of the Week honors throughout the season.
Even in a shortened year, Watkins’ impact was undeniable for USC, the Big Ten, and for women’s basketball on the national stage.