The USC Trojans were looking like a serious national championship contender throughout the 2024-25 women's college basketball season, but tragedy struck during the NCAA Tournament. JuJu Watkins, the team's star guard, went down with a torn ACL.
Watkins going down ended the Trojans' chances of making a run to the championship. While the hopes last season were over, the excitement about Watkins coming back strong from her injury during the 2025-26 season is obvious.
Even though the season has been over for awhile, USC took to social media on Wednesday and made a major announcement about Watkins.
As shared by their announcement, Watkins has been nominated for Sportswoman of the Year at the BET Awards.
JuJu Watkins has been nominated for Sportswoman of the Year at the @BETAwards! ✌️ pic.twitter.com/kMyDcdhb0R
— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) May 14, 2025
She is more than deserving of receiving the award if she wins. Watkins has become one of the main faces of women's college basketball.
Throughout the course of the 2024-25 season with the Trojans, Watkins played in 33 games. She averaged 23.9 points per game to go along with 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks. In addition, she shot 42.6 percent from the floor and 32.5 percent from three-point distance.
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Looking ahead to the future, Watkins is expected to come back and put together a big 2025-26 season. She's well on her way to becoming a very high pick in a future WNBA Draft. If she can bounce back from the injury, her future is extremely bright.
For now, she should be proud of the nomination that she received. USC fans are certainly proud of her and are excited to welcome her back to the court.