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JuJu Watkins Secures Major National Award

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ryan Harris | Last updated Mar 3, 2025 1:33 PM ET

The women's college basketball regular season is coming to a close, and the Athletic just awarded their National Player of the Year award to none other than USC's JuJu Watkins.

A tight fought race this year, opposed to Caitlin Clark's dominating performance last year, ended with JuJu Watkins winning Unanimous National Player of the Year. This award adds to her greatness in women's college basketball as she won the National Freshman of the Year award.

Her case for the award was solidified by a recent standout performance against the No. 2 UCLA Bruins, with a 30-point, three rebound, five assists, two steals and three block performance all but sealed the award for Watkins. This game followed her dominant performance just two weeks earlier, where she tallied 38 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists against UCLA, the top-ranked team at the time.

Watkins has dominated the women's college basketball scene all year, averaging 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, leading her Trojans to the No. 2 ranking in the latest AP Poll. Her impressive performance all year has given the Trojans a Big Ten regular season title.

Due to WNBA rules, Watkins cannot enter the WNBA Draft until 2027. This will set up for two more years of Watkins taking women's college basketball by storm. The expected departure of Kiki Iriafen will be a tricky spot to fill, but the addition of the number three recruit in the country Jasmine Davidson will help.

JuJu and the 26-2 USC Trojans await the Indiana Hoosiers vs Oregon Ducks winner to kick off Big Ten tournament play on Friday, March 7. A potential third rematch against UCLA in the title game will be huge as they look to secure a No. 1 seed in this year's big dance.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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