USC Women's Basketball: JuJu Watkins Earns Prestigious Pac-12 Honor

Another day, another honor for Watkins.

Surprise! JuJu Watkins has officially been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. The star freshman wing of course was the obvious pick to win the award, after one of the most dominant performances by a freshman in women's college hoops.

Watkins became the sixth USC Trojan to win the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award, 

Watkins has absolutely showed out all year and completely lived up to the hype as the No. 1 recruit coming into college this year. During her first season at USC, Watkins finished second in the nation in points per game, averaging 27.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Overall she scored 751 points this season, which is tenth in Pac-12 history and third in USC history.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 https://t.co/6BgoOFP017 pic.twitter.com/bYLeTlo2dD

— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) March 5, 2024

Thanks in large part to Watkins, USC finished the regular season No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll, and a top contender heading into March Madness.

Watkins embarked on a record breaking season for the Trojans. She recorded 51 points against Stanford, the most points in a single game in USC history. She also torched the record for most 30-point games in a single season with 12. In addition to her game totals, Watkins won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award an astounding 14 times, making it more surprising when she didn't win the award. The 14-time weekly winner was also a Pac-12 record.

In addition to winning Freshman of the Year, Watkins was naturally added to the Pac-12 All Freshman Team. Watkins also made the All-Pac-12 team with McKenzie Forbes, and was an All-Defensive Honorable Mention.