BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — She’s not enjoying within the Candy 16 and Elite Eight video games this weekend, however so lots of the folks round ladies’s school basketball are nonetheless speaking about USC’s JuJu Watkins.
The famous person sophomore guard, who was second within the nation in scoring and can probably be the consensus Nationwide Participant of the Yr, tore her ACL early within the Trojan’s second-round win final Monday in opposition to Mississippi State. Over the past week, Watkins has been on the minds of a variety of gamers and coaches nonetheless competing within the event.
South Carolina coach Daybreak Staley has maintained a relationship with Watkins after recruiting her. She despatched her a textual content this week providing her assist and sending her nicely needs.
“JuJu is beloved by all of us,” Staley stated. “JuJu is elevating and lifting our recreation up with how she performs, with cornering the market with regards to NIL offers. I imply, she’s a enterprise herself, and to see a part of that not part of our NCAA Event, one thing is lacking. There’s an enormous void.”
Certainly, Watkins has been in commercials this season for State Farm, Gatorade and Nike. For Staley, what stands out about Watkins is her star-power and the way she’s introduced extra eyeballs to the sport of girls’s school basketball. In December, a daily season assembly between USC and UConn drew 2.23 million viewers to FOX, making it the second-most-watched ladies’s basketball recreation ever proven on the community.
When UConn coach Geno Auriemma noticed Watkins’ damage, he instantly reached out to USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb and provided her recommendation on how he’s handled gamers of his personal who’ve had these type of devastating accidents.
“I really feel horrible for JuJu personally, understanding the gamers that I’ve had which have needed to undergo that, how a lot it means to them, what they’re lacking for the entire yr that they’re out, and for Lindsay, for her teammates,” Auriemma stated. “And I feel the impact that it has on the event, I feel is large from a aggressive standpoint, star energy, and I feel the USC youngsters will most likely rise to the event and play wonderful like they did the opposite evening.”
USC and UConn each play on Saturday within the Candy 16. The Trojans face Kansas State and the Huskies tackle Oklahoma. Ought to each win, they’ll meet within the Elite Eight.
Had Watkins not gotten injured, it will’ve set-up a must-watch rematch between USC and UConn, a recreation that would have pierced the monoculture as the game’s largest stars — Watkins and Paige Buckers — went head-to-head.
The hope — from the NCAA Choice Committee and ESPN — was that the matchup might have brushed the hype and viewership generated by final season’s Elite Eight matchup between Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese. That recreation drew a then-record 12.3 million viewers.
Bueckers was compelled to grapple along with her personal knee damage just a few years in the past, lacking all the 2022-23 season after tearing her ACL in a summer time pickup recreation. She bounced again and has made the All-American First Group in every of the previous two seasons and is predicted to be the No. 1 decide within the upcoming WNBA Draft.
After seeing Watkins go down, Bueckers despatched her a textual content providing assist and recommendation.
“Your coronary heart breaks for her, simply the devastation that — particularly throughout proper now, throughout the event, of not having the ability to be on the market together with your crew throughout crucial a part of the yr,” Bueckers stated. “We empathize for her, we’ve been there, and we all know how a lot it sucks, however you don’t get to be pretty much as good as JuJu in case you don’t have an incredible motor, an incredible work ethic, and he or she’s going to assault this course of simply as she’s attacked basketball, and simply as she’s nice at basketball, she’s going to be nice at this restoration course of.”
Likewise, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles — who can be anticipated to be drafted extremely by a WNBA crew subsequent month — missed all the 2023-24 season with a knee damage. Miles got here again even higher this season, growing her 3-point capturing proportion by 18 factors whereas additionally averaging 15.5 factors and 5.9 assists per recreation.
Miles was watching the USC versus Mississippi State recreation in actual time when Watkins fell to the ground throughout a quick break.
“My coronary heart breaks for anybody that goes by means of that. I wouldn’t want that damage on my worst enemy. So it’s only a robust one,” Miles stated. “I feel the recommendation that I might give to her is to take her time. There are a variety of exterior components, lots of people who wish to see you again sooner than you might be able to, and you could rush your restoration, however on the finish of the day this damage takes time, and it actually takes you listening to your physique and what it wants.”
It might be some time earlier than ladies’s basketball followers see Watkins again on the court docket once more.
