USC Stacks Squad Around JuJu Watkins With Highly Touted New Recruit
Last season, USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins solidified herself as one of college basketball's best players.
Despite being just a freshman, Watkins helped carry the Women of Troy to an appearance in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, where they faced Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies.
Despite Watkins leading all scorers in the game with 29 points, her great performance wasn't enough to keep UConn from securing an 80-73 win.
The common belief among women's college basketball fans is that what kept USC from being true National Championship contenders is their lack of depth outside of Watkins. However, it appears that this is going to change over the next two seasons.
The Athletic basketball insider Shams Charania posted on X Tuesday, "Five-star recruit Jazzy Davidson – a top player in women’s 2025 high school class out of Clackamas, Oregon – has committed to play for the USC Trojans, she tells @TheAthletic. Davidson, a 6-foot-2 guard, joins All-American star JuJu Watkins at USC."
Five-star recruit Jazzy Davidson – a top player in women’s 2025 high school class out of Clackamas, Oregon – has committed to play for the USC Trojans, she tells @TheAthletic. Davidson, a 6-foot-2 guard, joins All-American star JuJu Watkins at USC. pic.twitter.com/jZNUJhRu2w
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 24, 2024
Signing Davidson is a massive acquisition for USC. While it's worth noting that Davidson is still in high school this year and therefore won't be playing for the Trojans this upcoming season, Watkins still has at least two NCAA seasons left before she can go pro. Therefore, she and Davidson will have at least one season together (in 2025-26).
Although Watkins already has a much-improved supporting cast from last season. USC has added former Stanford Cardinals superstar Kiki Iriafen, former Oregon State standout Talia von Oelhoffen, and recent Gatorade California State Player of the Year winner Kennedy Smith.
While Watkins and the Women of Troy were considered favorites to win a national championship over the next two seasons, adding Davidson to the mix in 2025 bolsters their case even further.
GRANT YOUNG
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.