LOS ANGELES — JuJu Watkins’ fingers didn’t really feel fairly proper. They have been tingling in a manner that appeared unnatural, and when she appeared down at them, although they have been bodily there (all 10 fingers — test; completely manicured nails — test) they didn’t really feel like her fingers. Not the fingers that made her the No. 1 recruit within the nation. Not the fingers that made the marvelous appear mundane as a highschool basketball participant. Not the fingers that signed the primary Nike title, picture and likeness licensing deal for any highschool women basketball participant ever.
She scanned the hallway for a basketball — pondering that is likely to be the one factor that would carry her fingers again into her physique — however none have been in sight. Close to her was the tunnel, the place on the finish awaited the beginning of Watkins’ faculty profession. She knew the questions that had swirled round her for months would lastly be answered as soon as she stepped on it: What may she make of herself and a long-dormant USC program?
“You nervous, Ju?” teammate Rayah Marshall teased her repeatedly the previous few days. “Sure,” Watkins admitted. “A bit of.” And now, it appeared, her fingers have been in on it, too.
From the court docket, Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff skilled his personal sense of the unknown. His Buckeyes — with their intense urgent protection — have been ranked No. 7, a preferred Ultimate 4 decide with a bevy of returners and future WNBA gamers.
And but, McGuff had spent the majority of his USC scouting watching highschool and grassroots recreation tape of Watkins, one thing he couldn’t recall doing earlier than. As a result of it was clear from the second Watkins signed her letter of intent at Sierra Canyon that she could be the solar round which USC’s each different piece orbited.
Watkins’ first bucket got here a minute into the sport; her first help, 30 seconds later.
No matter jitters existed, no matter occurred to her fingers in that hallway, dissipated someplace between the tunnel and tipoff. She dropped 32 factors on Ohio State in a nine-point USC win. WNBA legend Candace Parker, who offered commentary for TruTV, mentioned: “USC is in for a deal with with JuJu Watkins’ profession.”
However the second that caught out to McGuff wasn’t Watkins’ scoring. Or her spotlight reel performs. And even when Watkins carried out the favored “too small” celebration after ending by means of three of his gamers.
It was when she went to the bench within the third quarter after selecting up her third and fourth fouls. He watched as she jogged to the sideline, noting that she didn’t grasp her head or throw her fingers up in regards to the calls. At first of the fourth, with the Trojans up two, Watkins returned to the ground.
Possibly this second would rattle the freshman, McGuff thought. Possibly this second was too massive. Possibly the trepidation Watkins had seemingly lacked would now seem with just one foul separating her and the bench for the remainder of the sport.
Flawed.
The Trojans scored 27 fourth-quarter factors. Watkins had seven of these, and two assists, whereas taking part in the complete 10 minutes with out a foul.
“In your first recreation, in opposition to a ranked opponent, in an enormous occasion — that was probably the most spectacular factor,” McGuff mentioned. “And it leads me to consider she’s going to be an absolute famous person as a lot due to her expertise, however much more so due to her mindset.”
Because the No. 1 participant within the 2023 class, selecting a program that has languished in mediocrity her whole life didn’t faze her. She doesn’t seem nervous when celebrities sit courtside to observe her play. She’s open about the truth that she doesn’t simply wish to — however plans to — win a nationwide title earlier than she leaves USC.
However don’t confuse her quiet nature for a insecurity. As a result of if there’s one factor Watkins will guess on, it’s herself and her means to rise to the event. It’s her fingers, her thoughts and her motivation that make her the perfect freshman faculty basketball has seen in a very long time. Possibly since USC’s personal Cheryl Miller.
“In my 20 years of teaching, I’ve by no means been speaking a couple of participant in these sorts of grandiose phrases 14 video games in. However she’s totally different,” third-year coach Lindsay Gottlieb mentioned. “It’s not delicate how good JuJu is.”
Gottlieb sat on one of many couches in her workplace throughout from Watkins, finding out her, making an attempt to glean any clues from Watkins’ physique language.
Watkins had stored a good circle by means of her recruitment. What may’ve been probably the most high-profile saga in girls’s basketball was truly an air-tight chamber with no leaks. There weren’t social media posts asserting each supply and campus go to. Coaches have been largely at nighttime about the place she was leaning.
The L.A. native, then a junior, attended the USC-UCLA recreation within the Galen Middle and now sat with Gottlieb in her workplace. It was Gottlieb’s first season at USC, a program that hadn’t made the NCAA Event in almost a decade. She was a splashy rent after delivering Cal its first Ultimate 4 look a decade earlier and spending the earlier two seasons on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ employees.
Gottlieb had at all times been cautious about which video games precisely she’d invite Watkins. She knew the power and surroundings in Galen Middle had a very good likelihood to damper the expertise. It was late January, and Watkins had simply watched the Trojans lose to UCLA by 10, dropping to 9-7. Watkins had misplaced 10 video games whole throughout her highschool profession at that time. She sat in a chair with a view of the hallway as USC gamers strolled by means of the workplace grabbing meals and shouting as they handed the open door, “See you tomorrow, Coach.”
Gottlieb remembers Watkins posing one query: Why are they smiling?
Gottlieb knew Watkins’ recruitment would seemingly hinge on this second.
Gottlieb defined that three days earlier, USC misplaced to UCLA by 23. Within the quick turnaround, they watched movie and carried out modifications. Within the recreation that evening, they course-corrected. No, they didn’t win, however they moved ahead. And progress was the aim proper now, and the Trojans felt good about that.
“I needed to clarify that faculty basketball is a journey,” Gottlieb mentioned. “And it wasn’t the place we needed to be, however there have been child steps to it.”
A yr later, when Watkins introduced her high three colleges — USC, Stanford and South Carolina — it appeared like an actual one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others situation. Stanford and South Carolina had every received nationwide titles within the earlier three seasons. USC hadn’t even made the NCAA Event.
However that dialog in Gottlieb’s workplace caught with Watkins. She at all times had a want to construct one thing, to assist remodel a spot. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins Sr., based the Watts Labor Group Motion Committee (WLCAC) in 1965 as an initiative to enhance the lives of those that known as the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood house. When a lot of the nation thinks of Watts, they consider the Watts riots of 1965. When Watkins thinks of Watts, she sees her neighborhood that surrounds the park named after her great-grandfather. She envisions the medical heart and condominium complexes he delivered to the world. As a baby, she spent her summers working as a receptionist for the group. Throughout her “lunch breaks,” she talked about life and basketball within the workplace of her grandpa, Tim Watkins, who ran the WLCAC after Ted died in 1993. He took her on runs to the shop to purchase sweet, and he let her shadow the youngsters who labored on the summer time initiatives. Watkins, 5 years youthful than her closest sibling, was the little sister who hung round and tried to leap in on every thing with the large children. After they wouldn’t let her, she’d observe and pay attention.
She seen how a lot he invested into his relationships with others and noticed that everybody who encountered her grandpa referred to him as a buddy. On the WLCAC and at house, Watkins was consistently surrounded by the information and affect handed down by her great-grandfather. “Don’t transfer … enhance” was one among his quotes she heard numerous instances.
When it got here time to resolve the place to attend faculty, these phrases caught together with her. She needed to assist construct one thing. Certain, she may assist Stanford and South Carolina keep on high. Or she may assist change the course of USC. Higher but, she may do it in an enviornment that she had pushed previous a whole lot of instances.
“Ultimately, that is my metropolis, and USC hasn’t been sizzling for the reason that ‘80s,” Watkins mentioned. “However USC had a deeper which means than simply, ‘Oh, it’s house.’ In fact, that performed into it. However coming to this college and actually having a big effect on the trajectory of this system right here — that was crucial to me.”
When Cheryl Miller graduated from USC in 1986 — after profitable two nationwide titles and making a 3rd journey to the title recreation — it appeared as if the Trojans’ dynasty was able to anchor the West Coast of girls’s faculty hoops. That they had not solely established themselves with elite ball gamers, however properly earlier than the NIL period, the gamers have been well-known throughout the nation.
After USC received its second nationwide title in 1984, Sports activities Illustrated wrote: “The Trojan girls … have by no means had a tough time getting a desk anyplace on the town. That’s because of the sports activities info division at USC, a.ok.a. the College of Social Calendars, which believes extra in private appearances than press releases and works with the varsity’s girls athletes on grooming and etiquette and critiques all interviews. No surprise Miller and the McGees are simply probably the most recognizable girls athletes in L.A., and the Girls of Troy probably the most seen staff in girls’s basketball.”
However for the following decade, this system went on a gradual decline. Throughout the nation, different powers rose. Tennessee and Pat Summitt received three titles between 1987 and 1991; Stanford employed Tara VanDerveer in 1985 and the Cardinal received its first nationwide title in 1990; UConn introduced its ascendancy in 1995 when it received its first title over Tennessee, no much less.
As for USC, it struggled to determine the teaching excellence and stability these applications loved.
After profitable two nationwide titles with Miller, Linda Sharp retired in 1989 and this system employed Marianne Stanley, who received a nationwide title with Previous Dominion. 4 years and an equal pay struggle (and lawsuit) later, Stanley and USC parted methods. Miller returned as a head coach in 1993 and coached the Trojans, led by Lisa Leslie, to the 1994 Elite Eight — the furthest this system had gotten in March since her taking part in days — however she resigned abruptly after two seasons. USC then introduced in Fred Williams, who made it two seasons earlier than he was gone.
Within the late ‘90s, USC lastly established some head teaching consistency, however by then, expectations had fallen too far and others had stuffed the void. Solely 4 instances between 1997 and 2021, when Gottlieb arrived, did the Trojans end among the many high three groups within the convention.
Within the 2000s, when nationwide recruiting picked up in girls’s basketball, USC remained very a lot a has-been. The Trojans’ 1983 and 1984 titles have been lengthy forgotten or utterly unknown by gamers who have been nonetheless in diapers (or not but born) when USC hoisted these trophies.
From 2007 till 2022, California produced 16 top-10 recruits (10 % of the nation’s whole), however solely a kind of gamers went to USC whereas three apiece went to UConn and Duke.
Worse but, USC was by no means even within the image for the nation’s No. 1 recruits who hailed from California. In 2000, Diana Taurasi selected UConn over UCLA and Arizona. “I by no means thought I’d go away (California),” Taurasi informed ESPN on the time. Three others — Haley Jones (Stanford), Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn) and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (UConn) — didn’t even have USC as finalists.
Within the 15 years main as much as Watkins’ senior season, 14 of the No. 1 gamers nationally selected simply 4 colleges — UConn, Stanford, Baylor and Tennessee.
“There was a small group of elite girls’s basketball applications that the perfect gamers go to. And also you’re clearly making an attempt to develop into a kind of, but it surely’s additionally arduous to develop into a kind of with out the perfect gamers,” Gottlieb mentioned. “It actually takes an outlier of an individual to go to a kind of colleges earlier than they develop into that.”
However in 2014, A’ja Wilson — the nation’s No. 1 participant from Hopkins, S.C., simply 20 minutes from South Carolina’s campus — was that outlier. She selected South Carolina, a program in its sixth season below Daybreak Staley. The Gamecocks made their third NCAA Event look throughout Wilson’s senior yr of highschool, however this system had by no means been deeper than the Candy 16. However by her junior season in Columbia, she had delivered the Gamecocks their first nationwide championship.
And in 2023, Watkins selected USC, a program that has received one NCAA Event recreation in her lifetime.
Like Wilson at South Carolina, there was a draw to staying house, to constructing one thing not solely of their backyards but additionally for his or her backyards.
When Watkins appears to be like into the Galen Middle stands, she sees acquainted faces — each the celebrities she acknowledges from TV but additionally her grandfather, Tim, who has attended each house recreation. She sees her cousins and mates from Watts, her mother and father, former teammates and lecturers.
Attendance for Trojans house video games is up three-fold this yr, and whereas these numbers aren’t pushed solely by Watkins’ mates and acquaintances, they’re pushed largely by what Watkins has already performed for this system and the town. How she has excited a fan base that will or could not recall the may’ve-been-dynasty that was virtually born in L.A. 4 many years in the past. A staff that — like this present group — entertained, had star energy and featured gamers the town felt it may declare as its personal.
“I simply have such a relationship with the place I’m from — it’s crucial to me,” Watkins mentioned. “It’s simply ingrained. I really feel like if I’ve to, I’m gonna go away, however I’ll at all times discover my manner again right here.”
On the Trojans’ first house recreation this season, USC honored the 1983 and 1984 title groups. Candace Parker, Vanessa Bryant and a pair of Chainz have been in attendance. Ladies and boys, grandpas, youngsters all lined the court docket to get Watkins’ autograph. Just a few weeks later, LeBron James sat courtside. Not lengthy after, it was comic Kevin Hart. For the UCLA rematch, rapper Saweetie sat courtside.
To Watkins, they’re all L.A. And, to them, she seemingly represents the town, too. Not less than, that’s Watkins’ hope. That as she builds this program for the town and its followers that she additionally represents and displays the place that constructed her.
“She is your favourite NBA participant’s favourite faculty participant,” Gottlieb mentioned. “She is the dude down the road who exhibits up in a recreation in a Watkins jersey — she’s his favourite participant. She has children screaming her title and ready outdoors. It’s nonetheless initially, but it surely’s very palpable already.”
Attendance for Trojans house video games is up three-fold this yr. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Instances through Getty Photos)
On Sunday in Los Angeles, seven miles from the place Watkins first discovered to shoot a basketball, 10,657 individuals streamed into the Galen Middle to see No. 9 USC play No. 2 UCLA. Two weeks earlier, the Bruins beat the Trojans by seven in Westwood. Watkins completed with 27 factors and 11 rebounds within the first lack of her faculty profession. Within the postgame information convention, she drummed her fingers on the desk and held again tears.
With Oregon and Oregon State coming to city quickly after, Gottlieb determined to attend till nearer to the rematch to indicate the staff video from the loss. However two days later, she met with Watkins and McKenzie Forbes, a fifth-year grad switch, to observe collectively. They dissected performs, examined moments that have been fixable and mentioned steps that wanted to be taken. This isn’t the identical staff as two years in the past when Watkins sat in Gottlieb’s workplace as a recruit, however the recreation plan hasn’t modified all that a lot.
After sweeping the Oregon colleges, Watkins walked into the amenities with a special power. She requested Gottlieb once they’d be watching the UCLA recreation movie as a staff. She needed the corrections. She needed the rematch.
Gottlieb harassed to not put an excessive amount of on any single recreation. It’s an extended season, longer so for a freshman who hasn’t but discovered the ebbs and flows, hasn’t felt the grind of March.
“Don’t fear,” Watkins reassured her with a smile.
Within the rematch, USC’s Marshall — a 6-4 all-conference ahead and future WNBA participant — was sidelined with an sickness. Much more was foisted onto Watkins’ shoulders.
Within the USC locker room, Gottlieb felt an energized however centered depth. On the heart of it was Watkins. Her teammates not solely listening to her, however following her. “When she’s telling us, ‘Come on, let’s go, make your free throws, we’re getting this win,’” Forbes mentioned, “how do you not comply with that lead?”
This is likely to be probably the most spectacular piece of Watkins’ success to date. A then-top-10 staff that includes Marshall and Taylor Bigby (two third-year gamers who have been top-30 recruits) and three Ivy League grad transfers not solely look to an 18-year-old in these moments however need her to steer them.
“She’s such a competitor. She has this starvation to win,” Marshall says. “And it’s like, you thought you have been a competitor, you thought you have been hungry, however then you definitely get on the market together with her.”
Towards UCLA, Watkins completed with 32 factors, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. After the Trojans’ 73-65 victory, Watkins collapsed onto the ground, her calves immediately cramping, as in the event that they knew precisely how far they wanted to take her. Her teammates huddled round her, celebrating.
Watkins celebrated, too, however acknowledged all of it as progress. And regardless of consecutive losses final week in opposition to ranked opponents at Utah and Colorado, progress stays the aim.
As a result of in Los Angeles, a metropolis is watching a younger star primed to steer a program out of dormancy. And there’s a staff that is aware of precisely the place it desires the ball — in JuJu Watkins’ fingers.
(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Photographs: Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire through Getty Photos)
