USC Announces Standout Kennedy Smith to Miss Crucial Notre Dame Game
The USC Trojans women's basketball team is facing the toughest test of their 2024-25 NCAA season on Saturday, as they face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at their home court Galen Center in Los Angeles.
USC has started the season with a 4-0 record and is ranked No. 3 in the nation, while Notre Dame is also 4-0 and ranked No. 6 at the moment.
USC has two of the best players in the country with JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen. However, one reason why they're thought to be NCAA National Championship contenders this year is because they have more depth and versatility than they did one season ago.
A great example of this is with freshman Kennedy Smith, who has averaged 10.3 points per game this season.
However, it appears that USC will now be without Smith for not only this Notre Dame game but also for the foreseeable future.
The USC women's basketball X account posted on Saturday writing, "Following a surgical procedure, FR G Kennedy Smith will be sidelined for today’s game vs. Notre Dame.
"She is expected to return to competition this season."
Following a surgical procedure, FR G Kennedy Smith will be sidelined for today’s game vs. Notre Dame.
— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) November 23, 2024
She is expected to return to competition this season. pic.twitter.com/Z30v0xNRBW
It's currently unknown what the surgical procedure is, but fans are wishing Smith the best in her recovery.
When speaking with Women's Fastbreak on SI in October, JuJu Watkins said, "I would say my favorite has been Kennedy Smith," when asked if there's another Trojans player aside from her and Iriafen that might break out this season.
"Coming from Etiwanda [High School], we played each other in high school, but just to see how her game has evolved within that short amount of time, and seeing how mature she is on the floor, I'm definitely excited to join forces with her and win a championship," she added.
Now Watkins and the rest of USC's roster will have to make due without Smith for the time being.
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.