USC Women's Basketball: 3 Trojans Commits Named To McDonald's All-American Game

An excellent Cardinal and Gold squad in 2023-24 could get way better next year.

An already-excellent USC Women of Troy basketball club in the 2023-24 season could get a whole lot better in 2024-25.

Per the Trojans' official Twitter/X account, 2024 high school commits Kayleigh Heckel, Avery Howell and Kennedy Smith, all four-star recruits, have all been named to this year's McDonald's All-American Game, a huge testament to the recruiting prowess of third-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. 

USC is currently 13-3, and ranked as the No. 11 team in the country for this week's Associated Press poll (a bit of a drop after two straight. Heckel is a 5'9" point guard out of Long Island Lutheran High School in New York and the No. 27-ranked prospect in her class. Smith, a 6'1" forward out of Etiwanda, is seen as the sixth-best prospect in her high school class. The 5'11" Howell, a stud wing out of Boise High School, is viewed as the No. 23 talent in their senior class.

Gottlieb's biggest recruiting success to date is superstar now-freshman JuJu Watkins, a 6'2" shooting guard out of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth. Watkins was the No. 1 prospect in her high school class, and has been the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for a record 10 weeks already. She's averaging 26.1 points on a .438/.349/.830 slash line, seven boards and 3.4 dishes across 15 contests this season, and has already emerged as the team's de facto offensive leader (center Rayah Marshall is the club's leader on the other end) with her scoring and playmaking prowess.