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WNBA Legend Diana Taurasi Sends Message on JuJu Watkins

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Reign Amurao | Last updated May 27, 2025 10:31 PM ET

JuJu Watkins of the University of Southern California is one of the most exciting young stars in college. Even WNBA legend Diana Taurasi has loved watching Watkins take over the basketball court. On Saturday's episode of "No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show," host Ben Pickman welcomed the former Phoenix Mercury star.

During the interview, Pickman was interested to know who Taurasi thinks can take over her signature look in the WNBA. While the 2009 MVP was active in the league, she donned a slick back, high bun hairstyle.

Interestingly, Taurasi looked beyond the professional league and talked about Watkins having the same hairstyle. The 11-time All-Star had no problem passing the torch of her signature look to the youngster.

Taurasi joked about how Watkins can take over her look, and at the same time, had high praise for the USC star.

"Is anyone bunning it up? I mean, there is one special young lady from Los Angeles, Southern California, that is one of my favorite players of all time already (in) JuJu. So by all means, I will pass the bun torch to JuJu today," Taurasi said.

Watkins is one of the best young stars in the college scene. In her first two seasons, she showed off her scoring prowess. As a freshman, the 19-year-old star averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals. In her sophomore season, she has had a high-scoring output consistently.

The 2024 Pac-12 Rookie of the Year averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 steals. Unfortunately for Watkins, she suffered an ACL injury during the NCAA Tournament.

She has received high praise from one of the icons of basketball for the way she started her basketball career.

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

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