USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins is still sidelined by her ACL injury, but she has found a new role to help the team succeed this season.
On Wednesday, Feb. 18, @espnW on X/Twitter uploaded a clip that is taken from a recent interview that Watkins did with ESPN reporter Ari Chambers during the launch of her player-exclusive colorway of the Nike LeBron NXXT Gen in Watts, California.
In the interview, Watkins was asked by Chambers how she was able to re-imagine her position and voice for her squad during the 2025-26 season, especially since she has yet to suit up this year due to injury. For Watkins, it boils down to maximizing the time-off she has now to grow more maturely and make sure she is spending time with her teammates in valuable ways so they can grow all together.
“ Yeah. Honestly, I think I’ve really been able to get close to so many girls on the team this year just because, you know, I have so much time and I can really put my attention into them, and helping them get better and whatever they need from me. Just being that person for them, I’m definitely growing as a leader,” Watkins said.
She was then asked asked about how she was growing as a player, she answered, “I think just having more appreciation for the game.”
“I think my love for the game has definitely grown, and I miss it. So just being able to grow maturity-wise, and can’t wait till I’m back,” she continued.
Watkins suffered her torn right ACL injury in the second round of the 2025 national tournament. In that game, Watkins and the rest of coach Lindsay Gottlieb‘s 2024-25 Trojans were going up against coach Sam Purcell’s Mississippi State Bulldogs in the former’s home court, the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. Watkins went down midway through the first period, but her USC team held on to the win by 37 points, 96-59.
The 2025-26 USC Trojans Have More Than Doubled Their Losses From The 2024-25 Campaign without JuJu Watkins
While the current slew of USC Trojans have played well enough to may be squeeze their way into the 2026 national tournament, they are no way the same powerful team with JuJu Watkins sidelined. In fact, the 2025-26 Trojans currently possess an overall record of 16-9 (8-6 Big Ten), which means they have already more than doubled their losses from last year’s campaign, in which they had an overall record of 35-4 (17-1 Big Ten).
However, the Trojans are ending the year on a strong note. They’ve won five straight games, their longest winning run of the season. They will look to extend that win streak to six when they face Wisconsin on Thursday.
