USC superstar JuJu Watkins ‘grateful’ in return from knee injury

As she sat down to speak with reporters for the first time in 15 months, JuJu Watkins smiled.

It was great to be back.

“It’s definitely been a whirlwind of emotions,” the USC women’s basketball superstar said Monday inside the Galen Center, “but I’m just really grateful to be here sitting with you all today.”

Watkins’ return from the terrible knee injury she suffered in March 2025 that wiped out a possible Final Four run – not to mention the entire following season – also has made her coaches and teammates giddy about the possibilities for a team that’s considered a leading national title contender.

“Just seeing her on the court and moving around and stuff,” freshman phenom Jazzy Davidson said, eyes wide with amazement, “it’s really surreal to see.”

Might all the work that Watkins put in make the best player in the women’s college game even more special?

“I mean, watch out in terms of her physical makeup – like, she’s stronger, faster, in her best shape ever,” Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb said, “because of the way she approached the work.”

Watkins is back and practicing with the team as it enters its third week of summer workouts, but details about her status remained somewhat vague. Reporters were told not to ask specific questions about her recovery or any timeline.

But the expectation is that she’ll be fully ready to go by the Trojans’ highly anticipated season opener.

After more than a year away from competing, Watkins said she’s savoring every moment.

“Just being around everything,” she said. “I don’t even know, just the smallest stuff gets me excited. Definitely being able to scrimmage again, it’s all I could ask for.”

Watkins cracked up reporters when asked about her take on the game of basketball today.

“I mean, I’ve only been away a year,” Watkins said, the room erupting in laughter. “I mean, I love it. I’m happy to be back.”

Watkins thanked her trainers, teammates, coaches, family members – and Paige Bueckers, the Dallas Wings star who also missed an entire college season with a torn knee ligament when she played for UConn.

“Honestly, Paige was a big person for me,” Watkins said. “She was constantly checking up on me, sending me texts, encouraging me. I really appreciated that. But honestly, every person in the WNBA world who had gone through that or gone through a similar experience just had nothing but love and support for me.”

Watching her teammates power through a season without her – the Trojans reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to South Carolina – helped Watkins develop her game in other ways that could help her the rest of her career.

“Even though I wasn’t playing,” Watkins said, “just continuing to have my thinking cap on in terms of when I will be back, things I would do differently, things I would kind of bring back to the team, just trying to heighten my IQ as much as possible even though I’m not physically out there playing.”

What makes the possibilities all the more intriguing for USC is that it won’t just be the JuJu Watkins Show.

She’ll be joined by five-star prospects Sitaya Fagan and Saniyah Hall as well as Davidson, who should be able to elevate her game while surrounded by so much star power.

“The idea is that all the talent that we have,” Gottlieb said, “should make everybody more efficient and everybody’s lives a little easier.”

Watkins has already won pretty much everything there is to win at the college level – except for a national championship. She finished her sophomore season having won the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award while also being named the Big Ten Conference and Associated Press player of the year.

Those honors came as a result of a season in which Watkins led the Trojans to a Big Ten title while becoming the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 points – early in just her second season with the team.

Though she has two years of eligibility remaining, it’s widely presumed that Watkins will head to the WNBA draft next spring as the likely No. 1 pick. Questions about Watkins’ future intentions were also off limits on Monday.

Wearing a back bun as opposed to the iconic top bun she breaks out on game days, Watkins was asked if she would bring the bun back next season.

Breaking out that smile once more, she said to expect a familiar look.

“It’ll be back,” Watkins said. “It’ll be back.”

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