# JuJu Watkins

Judea Skies "JuJu" Watkins (born July 15, 2005) is an American college basketball player for the USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference.
Watkins attended Windward School and Sierra Canyon School, both in her hometown of Los Angeles. She was ranked the number one recruit in her class by ESPN and earned national high school player of the year honors as a senior at Sierra Canyon. In her first season at USC, Watkins was named a unanimous first-team All-American and won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. She received national freshman of the year recognition and set the NCAA Division I freshman scoring record.
Watkins has won two gold medals with the United States at the youth international level. She was named Most Valuable Player of the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup and the 2021 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship.

## Early life and high school career

Watkins started playing basketball in a park league at age seven. She has trained with former National Basketball Association (NBA) assistant coach Phil Handy and modeled her game after Arike Ogunbowale. As a freshman at Windward School in Los Angeles, Watkins averaged 21 points and nine rebounds per game, leading her team to the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game and the regional final. She was named the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year. In 2020, Watkins was named SportsKid of the Year by Sports Illustrated Kids. As a sophomore at Windward, she averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds per game.
Entering her junior year, Watkins transferred to Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles. She led her team to the Open Division state title and a 30–2 record as a junior. After averaging 25 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists, Watkins was named California Gatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball. She earned player of the year honors from the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News. As a senior, Watkins averaged 27.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, leading Sierra Canyon to the CIF Southern Section Open Division title, a 31–1 record and the regional final. On senior night, she scored a career-high 60 points, the second-most points in a game in area history, in an 88–39 win over Notre Dame High School. Watkins was recognized as Gatorade National Player of the Year and Naismith Prep Player of the Year. She repeated as player of the year from the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News, as well as California Gatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball. Watkins played in the McDonald's All-American Game, where she shared MVP honors, and the Nike Hoop Summit.

### Recruiting

Watkins was considered a five-star recruit and the number one player in the 2023 class, according to ESPN. On November 15, 2022, she announced her commitment to USC over offers from South Carolina and Stanford.

## College career
### Freshman season

On November 6, 2023, Watkins made her college debut and scored 32 points in an 83–74 upset win over AP No. 7 Ohio State. She set the USC record for points in a freshman debut, surpassing Lisa Leslie from 1990. On November 22, she posted her first double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 71–70 win over Penn State. It was the first of three consecutive 30-point games by Watkins, which tied Cheryl Miller for the longest such streak in program history. On January 14, 2024, Watkins recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds in a 73–65 win over AP No. 2 UCLA. On February 2, she scored a career-high 51 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 67–58 victory over AP No. 4 Stanford. Watkins broke the USC single-game scoring record held by Cherie Nelson since 1989. It was the first 50-point game by an NCAA Division I freshman since Elena Delle Donne of Delaware in 2010. On February 23, Watkins scored 42 points in an 87–81 win over AP No. 11 Colorado. She set the single-game scoring record for the Galen Center, her team's home arena, and had her 11th 30-point game, eclipsing Cheryl Miller for the most in a season by a USC player. In her next game, Watkins posted 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 74–68 loss to AP No. 18 Utah, passing Paula McGee for the program freshman single-season scoring record. At the end of the regular season, she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-12, while earning All-Defensive Team honors from the league's media.
In the semifinals of the 2024 Pac-12 tournament, Watkins posted 33 points and 10 rebounds in an 80–70 double overtime win over UCLA. She set the tournament single-game scoring record by a freshman. Although Watkins was held to nine points on 2-of-15 shooting in the final, her team defeated Stanford, 67–58, to win its first Pac-12 tournament since 2014. She led USC to the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA tournament, where she had 29 points and 10 rebounds in an 80–73 loss to UConn. During the game, Watkins broke the Division I freshman scoring record, held by Tina Hutchinson of San Diego State since 1984. As a freshman, she averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, ranking second among Division I players in scoring. Watkins was a unanimous first-team All-American: she earned first-team All-American accolades from the AP and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and made the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches' All-America team. She received the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation's top shooting guard, and was named the top Division I freshman by the USBWA and the WBCA.

### Sophomore season

Entering her sophomore season, Watkins was named an AP preseason All-American and the Big Ten preseason player of the year. In her season debut on November 4, 2024, she posted 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a 68–66 win over AP No. 20 Ole Miss. On November 15, Watkins became the fastest USC player to reach 1,000 career points (38 games) and tied for the fourth-fewest games in Division I history to reach the mark, as part of a 22-point effort against Santa Clara. On December 3, she scored a season-high 40 points and shot 9-of-11 from three-point range in a 94–52 victory over California Baptist, breaking the program single-game record in three-pointers. On December 21, Watkins led USC to a 72–70 win against AP No. 4 UConn, with 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists. On January 12, 2025, she posted 35 points on 13-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds, and five steals in a 95–73 win over Penn State. Watkins led USC to a 71–60 victory over undefeated, AP No. 1 UCLA on February 13, recording 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks, and five assists. She became the first Division I player in 20 seasons with at least 35 points, five blocks, and five assists in a game. On March 1, Watkins scored 30 points in a rematch with AP No. 2 UCLA, helping her team win 80–67 and clinch the Big Ten regular season championship.

## National team career

Watkins won a gold medal with the United States at the 2021 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Mexico. She averaged 20 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 3.7 assists per game, earning tournament MVP honors. At the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Hungary, Watkins led her team to the gold medal and was named MVP after averaging 13.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

## Career statistics
### College

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
| 2023–24 | USC | 34 | 34 | 34.6 | 40.1 | 31.9 | 85.2 | 7.3 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 4.1 | 27.1 |

## Off the court
### Personal life

Watkins is the daughter of Robert Neal-Watkins and Sari Watkins. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, founded the Watts Labor Community Action Committee.

### Endorsements

In 2022, as a high school junior, Watkins signed with Klutch Sports Group, becoming the first female athlete to be represented by the agency. Later that year, she signed a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with Nike. In October 2024, Watkins signed a multi-year contract extension with Nike, described by ESPN as one of the largest shoe deals in women's basketball. She has also signed NIL deals with AT&T, Celsius, Dove, Gatorade, NerdWallet, Ritz, State Farm, and Wells Fargo among other companies. Watkins has invested in the women's three-on-three basketball league Unrivaled. She is estimated to be one of the highest-earning women's college basketball players from NIL deals and was named Best NIL Athlete by Sports Business Journal in 2024.