USC Women's Basketball: New Men's Coach Considers JuJu Watkins National Brand

JuJu Watkins earns praise from Eric Musselman.

Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off a freshman campaign in which she broke the NCAA freshman scoring record and led USC women's basketball to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in three decades, JuJu Watkins is the star on USC's campus. She's actually more than just a star at USC, but a face of college basketball nationwide.

USC men's basketball coach Eric Musselman, who was named the new Trojans' men's basketball coach on April 4, described the star power he has already seen from the 19-year-old since arriving at USC.

"First of all, she's the biggest star on campus," Musselman told Colin Cowherd on The Herd. "I can tell you that. That's super cool when it comes to women's athletics that JuJu is a national brand right now."

The Trojans star emerged as one of the biggest names in basketball after averaging 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game for the Trojans in 2023-24. Only Caitlin Clark averaged more points per game than Watkins last season.

"She can do everything," Musselman said to Cowherd. "She can draw free throws attempted, she can make threes, you talk about a player on a big stage as a freshman that could take her as far as she did. She's got unbelievable body control, she can finish through contact, she can seek contact for free throws attempted, stretch the defense out with three-point shooting. Just had a phenomenal freshman year."

Watkins proved how versatile she was during that freshman season. Along with leading her team to the Elite Eight and becoming the first freshman to score 900 points, Watkins piled up 15 30-point games and nine double-doubles as a freshman.

For her outstanding efforts, she won numerous awards including the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, USBWA National Freshman of the Year, All-American honors, and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, given to the best shooting guard in the nation.

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