Stephen A. Smith Declares JuJu Watkins Deserves Caitlin Clark Coverage
The USC Trojans vs. UConn Huskies women's basketball team that was played on December 21 lived up to all the hype it was receiving in the game's lead-up.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this highly-anticipated matchup delivering is because both teams' top players showed up in a major way. For USC, this is of course superstar sophomore guard JuJu Watkins, who was the best player on the court Saturday.
Watkins finished the game with an efficient 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks while leading her Trojans team to a 72-70 win.
While Watkins has gotten off to a relatively quiet start to the 2024-25 season after bursting onto the scene as a freshman last year, the 19-year-old is now back to being at the center of discussion when it comes to women's college basketball's best players.
And sports media juggernauts Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe had some shining praise of Watkins during a December 23 episode of "First Take".
"I don't know if I've seen a women's college basketball player as polished as Juju Watkins," Sharpe said. "Stephen A., the way she can put the ball on the floor, get to the rim, euro step, one leg, three-point shot, midrange shot, and she can play outstanding defense!"
Stephen A. Smith then added, "We should be talking about [JuJu Watkins] the way we talked about Caitlin Clark last year. JuJu is special, I'm telling you that right now. She is the package! She is gonna be special."
"We should be talking about [JuJu Watkins] the way we talked about Caitlin Clark last year. JuJu's special." 👏
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 23, 2024
—@stephenasmith 🤩 pic.twitter.com/RYMCPhhBTq
This isn't the first time that Watkins and Clark have been compared, and it likely won't be the last.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.