Judea (“JuJu”) Watkins, a sophomore basketball player for the USC Trojans tore her ACL five minutes into a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. In possession of the ball down court, her knee gave out as she stood between two defenders. Watkins was unable to put any weight on her leg and was carried off the court (ESPN).
Watkins, a sophomore from Los Angeles, is a powerhouse. She set the national record for the most career points scored as a freshman with 920 points, and has 27.1 points per game making her the no. 2 best scorer in the country. She set the record at USC for the most free throws made in a single season at 271. In addition, she scored 32 points in her first freshman game – the highest in USC history (usctrojans.com).
Her impressive accolades don’t end there, but it makes her injury all the more devastating. ACL recovery typically takes at least 9 months, not to mention rehab and physical therapy. Coach Stephen commented, “I feel it’s really unfortunate after the brilliant season JuJu had to get injured. I think her dedication and love of the game will allow her to make a full comeback and be stronger. She has tremendous resilience and this is just another step in her journey.”
While Watkins seemed to suffer a non-contact injury, Mississippi State still received harsh backlash. The crowd heavily booed them whenever they came into possession of the ball, particularly guard Chandler Prater. The head coach, Sam Purcell, of Mississippi State later stated, “‘I pray as a society that we understand it’s a thoughtful apology that we don’t take this further than it needs to. On behalf of the Bulldogs, again, we’re praying for her recovery for this next game because she’s the ultimate competitor. We want to see her back out on that court’” (USA Today). Still, attacks continued on social media, as fans proceeded to post hateful comments, leading Prater to turn off comments on some of her Instagram posts (Yahoo Sports). As put by sophomore Lucy Carr, “There’s a difference between trying to support Watkins and tearing down a defender who was just doing her job.”
In Watkins’ absence, teammates Kiki Iriafen, Rayah Marshall, Kennedy Smith, Avery Howell, Kayleigh Heckell, and Malia Samuels stepped up. Although the team managed to pull a strong win at 96-59, Watkins’ season-ending injury was devastating for her team. Previously, USC was one of the teams favored to win the tournament, but Watkins’ absence made this less likely (ESPN). This unfortunately held true, as USC lost 64-78 to UConn in the Elite Eight (NCAA). The loss of their star player was quite detrimental to the Trojans, and many are sending their thoughts and good wishes for the recovery of JuJu Watkins.
