After a season without its biggest star, USC women’s basketball is preparing for the return of senior guard JuJu Watkins as the Trojans enter a new season with high expectations.
Watkins was the 2024-25 Associated Press National Player of the Year, but missed the entire 2025-26 season for recovery after tearing her ACL during a game against Mississippi State in the 2025 NCAA tournament. Before the injury, Watkins was averaging 23.9 points per game and led the Trojans to a Big Ten regular-season championship.
Watkins is a potential high draft pick and was named the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year ahead of her senior season. She will be joined by sophomore guard Jazzy Davidson, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and No. 1 overall recruit freshman guard Saniyah Hall to create a trio of three former No. 1 high school recruits on the same team.
With expectations high for the upcoming season, USC students are looking forward to seeing Watkins return to the court after her yearlong absence.
“I’m so excited,” said Sam Domke, a freshman majoring in human biology. “She’s just a once in a lifetime talent and a great player.”
USC Annenberg journalism professor Miki Turner, who has watched Watkins practice ahead of the season, said she is impressed with how she has looked since returning from injury.
“I’ve watched her in practice a couple times,” Turner said. “She is probably more fit than she was before she left. [It] doesn’t look like there is any trace of the injury.”
Sophomore women’s basketball practice player Minh Nguyen has also gotten a close-up look at Watkins’ return.
“She’s looked really good in practice so far, getting better each day,” Nguyen said. “It seems like she’ll be more or less her old self, but obviously there’s going to be some rust coming back from a year off from not playing.”
Nguyen said “the sky’s the limit” for the Trojans to have a legitimate chance to compete for the national championship.
With three former No. 1 recruits on the roster, Turner said one of the biggest challenges for USC will be balancing the talent on the team.
“I think this team is very unselfish,” Turner said. “I think they truly do love playing together, and I think it’ll work out for them.”
Other students, like senior human biology major Cristian Mendez, are excited to see how Watkins will play alongside Davidson, who emerged as one of the best players in college basketball while Watkins was out.
Mendez said he is looking forward to seeing “how JuJu and Jazzy can kind of bounce off of each other this year.”
He also said he hopes the duo can help lead USC to a national championship before Watkins potentially begins her professional basketball career in the WNBA.
“I’m just super excited to see her during her senior year, and then hopefully watch her in the league,” he said.
The USC women’s basketball season tips off with an exhibition match on Oct. 25 against the University of California, Berkeley at the Galen Center before officially opening up the year with a road matchup against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Nov. 2nd in Las Vegas at Cox Pavilion.
Edited by Jadon Frank and Adriana Brady