JuJu Watkins entered USC with tremendous expectations. She shatters them.
The unanimous No. 1 overall pick in the Class of 2023 posted the fourth 30-point game of her college career in an 85-44 win over Cal Poly on Tuesday, finishing the game with 30 points on 10 of 19 shooting (4 (from). 7 from 3-point range) with four rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks.
With those four games, Watkins passed WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie for the most 30-point games by a USC freshman in program history. At this point, we should note that Watkins played a total of six games in college.
With an average of 26.8 points per game, the 1.90 meter tall Watkins is only behind the reigning Wooden Award winner Caitlin Clark (29.6 points per game) in the national scoring standings. She’s won the Pac-12’s Freshman of the Week award three times in three weeks of play and now appears to be on her way to a fourth straight win.
Thanks to Watkins’ lead, the 6-0 Trojans are currently ranked No. 6 in the AP poll, the program’s best ranking in 29 years. The last time they were this high was 1994, Leslie’s last year.
Watkins, a Los Angeles native and Sierra Canyon graduate who stayed home, opened her career with 32 points in an 83-74 win over then-No. 7 Ohio State. It will take a while to get to its next big stage, with four games against unranked non-conference teams next month, but the payoff will be big on Dec. 30 when USC takes on No. 2 UCLA, followed of games against No. 12 Utah and No. 7 Colorado.
