We said it before in our Freshman File, it will be said again today and will be reiterated in the future: JuJu Watkins is a special player. A one-of-one.
On Friday night, she single-handedly destroyed No. 4 Stanford, scoring 51 points for the 67-58 road win. No player has done that this year in college basketball, and no Trojan has done this ever.
While the women’s game grows and evolves with shining stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, Watkins is emerging as a sun. She shines brighter than everyone in college basketball—a player to admire if you’re a fan, and someone to avoid if you’re any other team in the Pac-12.
The numbers don’t lie. Watkins didn’t just stuff the stat sheet; she was the stat sheet. Scoring 51 points on 14-for-26 shooting from the field, 6-for-11 from three and 17-for-19 from the free throw line, along with grabbing 11 boards, Watkins overwhelmed the best team in the Pac-12. She was maniacal. Relentless. A brute force. As inevitable as the rising sun. At 18 years-old she was the best player on the floor, and the second-best wasn’t anywhere near her galaxy.
In her postgame presser, USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said:
She’s special, the way she takes coaching, the way she’s a teammate, the way she holds herself accountable, the way she…
