It’s a Tuesday night outside of downtown Los Angeles and I’m in a half-empty Galen Center on the University of Southern California campus. The whole place smells like movie-theater popcorn, sticky spilled soda, and, vaguely, sweat. The cheerleaders jumping up and down on the court, attempting to amp up the somewhat sleepy crowd, look like they could pass for middle schoolers. This is, in unmistakable and almost caricatured fashion, a college campus. But there’s a certain player on the floor, with an oversized bulbous bun atop her head, who is sparkling a little differently than everyone around her. She moves so fluidly, gets to her spots on the floor with such ease. It’s, frankly, just so very clear that she is operating in a different echelon than her peers. Even if you didn’t tell me JuJu Watkins was a budding superstar, I’d know it.
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This year in particular, JuJu (government name: Judea Skies) Watkins’ stardom is markedly transitioning from bud to full bloom. You’d be hard-pressed to find a stretch of road in Los Angeles without the USC sophomore’s image on a Nike billboard, or a commercial block during a national NBA broadcast without " target="_blank" class="link"> her State Farm ad spot. With Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese having moved onto the WNBA last year, she’s arguably the biggest remaining name in college basketball, men’s or women’s, and her resumé is already impressive: Gatorade National Player of the Year, McDonald’s All-American Game MVP, Unanimous First-Team All American, WBCA Freshman of the Year, the list goes on and on.
When Watkins, from the south Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, declared in fall 2022 that she would be attending her hometown USC, it was a seismic moment in college sports. The Trojans’ women’s basketball program had fallen out of favor with recruits, and out of relevancy, since winning back-to-back national championships during the mid-80s. They hadn’t even reached the Sweet Sixteen since 1994. But Watkins wasn’t afraid of the challenge to revive the legacy established by players like Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie, and her arrival immediately proved impactful. The first female high school athlete to sign a deal with Nike lived up to every bit of the hype and did so immediately. She finished second in the nation in points per game (27.1) her first season, behind only Clark, while leading the Trojans to the Pac-12 tournament title and their " target="_blank" class="link"> first Elite Eight appearance in 30 years. Seemingly overnight, USC’s reputation as a college basketball powerhouse and destination for high-school talent had been restored.
Watkins’ off-court persona is almost disarmingly unassuming; she’s incredibly soft-spoken and carries herself with the calm and aura of someone well beyond her 19 years. We bond over shared music taste: she loves Steve Lacy, Faye Webster and Clairo (she lists Terrapin as her favorite song, a deep cut sure to impress even the most discerning of music snobs).
A self-described “introvert”, living in the immense spotlight she’s accumulated over the past couple of years has come with a sharp learning curve. “I think one of the crazier things is just being home and going to places you go to all the time, and slowly realizing that people are starting to notice you more. It’s a blessing and a curse, but it’s cool,” she says, as we chat during her bus ride to a game in Wisconsin, of what has been the biggest adjustment to her newfound notoriety. “The luxury of living in LA is people encounter like, you know, I wouldn’t say famous, but people like that all the time,” she says. “So I think for me it’s more chill, compared to when we travel to other places. I walk around with my headphones on, going to class like a regular student.”
She’s decidedly not a regular student, though she is still in college (I joke that she’s living a Hannah Montana existence, which elicits a chuckle), but Watkins doesn’t seem fazed by the life disruption, understanding that it’s a package deal with both following her own dreams, and helping to further the growth of the sport she loves. “I just live my life,” she shrugs. “I have crazy experiences, but I think it’s honestly cool, it’s just a testament to where women’s basketball is going, and I think it helps grow the sport.”
And the sport is growing exponentially. I ask her what she makes of all the national attention women’s basketball has gotten over the last year or so, with the rise of Clark, Reese and a host of other young talent elevating the profile of the WNBA. “It’s definitely well-deserved, I think. A long time coming for women’s sports and women’s basketball specifically,” she says. “I’m just grateful to be in this space at this time. Because honestly, I think timing is everything. And to be in college basketball now ... it’s just super different. In a good way.”
I ask Watkins, who says she started to take basketball “seriously” at the ripe old age of 12, how she keeps her feet on solid ground when it feels like she’s surrounded by a storm of attention and flashbulbs at all times. “I’m grateful to have my family. I think they definitely keep me grounded,” she says. “And then, I think, just kind of having my own space. I’m introverted, so whenever the world kind of feels like it’s going crazy, I’ll just go to my couch and watch my show”–that show is currently Severance, she says–“and just kind of tune everything out. But ‘grounded’ is super easy for me, because it’s just how I was raised.”
On Thursday night, Watkins and the sixth-ranked Trojans will host the UCLA Bruins, the No 1 team in the country for 12 straight weeks and the last undefeated team in major college basketball. The hype around the game, the first of two highly anticipated matchups between the crosstown rivals, is a true testament to the turnaround that Watkins’ presence in the Los Angeles basketball scene has spearheaded. Between her generational talent and her impressively down-to-earth attitude, Watkins is destined for a skyward ascension. College superstardom is just the beginning.
