 Watkins in 2025 | |
| No. 12 – USC Trojans | |
|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard /point guard |
| League | Big Ten Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (2005-07-15)July 15, 2005 (age 20) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
|
| College | USC (2023–present) |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Medals | |
Judea Skies "JuJu"Watkins (born July 15, 2005) is an Americancollege basketball player for theUSC Trojans of theBig Ten Conference.
Watkins attendedWindward School andSierra Canyon School, both in her hometown ofLos Angeles. She was ranked the number onerecruit in her class byESPN and earnednational high school player of the year honors as a senior at Sierra Canyon. In her first season at USC, Watkins was named a unanimous first-teamAll-American and won theAnn Meyers Drysdale Award. She received national freshman of the year recognition and set theNCAA Division I freshman scoring record.
Watkins has won two gold medals with the United States at the youth international level. She was namedMost Valuable Player of the2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup and the2021 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship.
Watkins started playing basketball in a park league at age seven.[1] She has trained with formerNational Basketball Association (NBA) assistant coachPhil Handy and modeled her game afterArike Ogunbowale.[2] As a freshman atWindward School inLos Angeles, Watkins averaged 21 points and nine rebounds per game, leading her team to theCIF Southern Section Open Division title game and the regional final. She was named theLos Angeles Times Player of the Year.[3] In 2020, Watkins was namedSportsKid of the Year bySports Illustrated Kids.[4] As a sophomore at Windward, she averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds per game.[2]
Entering her junior year, Watkins transferred toSierra Canyon School in Los Angeles.[5] She led her team to the Open Division state title and a 30–2 record as a junior. After averaging 25 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists, Watkins was named CaliforniaGatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball.[6][7] She earned player of the year honors from theLos Angeles Times andLos Angeles Daily News.[8][9] As a senior, Watkins averaged 27.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, leading Sierra Canyon to the CIF Southern Section Open Division title, a 31–1 record and the regional final.[10] On senior night, she scored a career-high 60 points, the second-most points in a game in area history, in an 88–39 win overNotre Dame High School.[11] Watkins was recognized asGatorade National Player of the Year andNaismith Prep Player of the Year. She repeated as player of the year from theLos Angeles Times andLos Angeles Daily News, as well as California Gatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball.[12][13] Watkins played in theMcDonald's All-American Game, where she shared MVP honors, and theNike Hoop Summit.[14]
Watkins was considered a five-starrecruit and the number one player in the 2023 class, according toESPN. On November 15, 2022, she announced her commitment toUSC over offers fromSouth Carolina andStanford.[15]
On November 6, 2023, Watkins made her college debut and scored 32 points in an 83–74 upset win overAP No. 7Ohio State. She set the USC record for points in a freshman debut, surpassingLisa Leslie from 1990.[16] On November 22, she posted her firstdouble-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 71–70 win overPenn State.[17] It was the first of three consecutive 30-point games by Watkins, which tiedCheryl Miller for the longest such streak in program history.[18] On January 14, 2024, Watkins recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds in a 73–65 win over AP No. 2UCLA.[19] On February 2, she scored a career-high 51 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 67–58 victory over AP No. 4Stanford. Watkins broke the USC single-game scoring record held by Cherie Nelson since 1989.[20] It was the first 50-point game by anNCAA Division I freshman sinceElena Delle Donne ofDelaware in 2010.[21] On February 23, Watkins scored 42 points in an 87–81 win over AP No. 11Colorado. She set the single-game scoring record for theGalen Center, her team's home arena, and had her 11th 30-point game, eclipsing Cheryl Miller for the most in a season by a USC player.[22][23] In her next game, Watkins posted 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 74–68 loss to AP No. 18Utah, passingPaula McGee for the program freshman single-season scoring record.[24] At the end of the regular season, she was namedPac-12 Freshman of the Year andAll-Pac-12, while earning All-Defensive Team honors from the league's media.[25][26]
In the semifinals of the2024 Pac-12 tournament, Watkins posted 33 points and 10 rebounds in an 80–70 double overtime win over UCLA. She set the tournament single-game scoring record by a freshman.[27] Although Watkins was held to nine points on 2-of-15 shooting in the final, her team defeated Stanford, 67–58, to win its first Pac-12 tournament since 2014.[28] She led USC to the Elite Eight of the2024 NCAA tournament, where she had 29 points and 10 rebounds in an 80–73 loss toUConn. During the game, Watkins broke the Division I freshman scoring record, held byTina Hutchinson ofSan Diego State since 1984.[29] As a freshman, she averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, ranking second among Division I players in scoring.[30] Watkins was a unanimous first-team All-American: she earned first-team All-American accolades from theAP and theUnited States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and made theWomen's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches' All-America team.[31][32][33] She received theAnn Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation's top shooting guard, and was named the top Division I Freshman of the Year by theUSBWA and theWBCA.[30]
Entering her sophomore season, Watkins was named an AP preseason All-American and theBig Ten preseason player of the year.[34][35] In her season debut on November 4, 2024, she posted 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a 68–66 win over AP No. 20Ole Miss.[36] On November 15, Watkins became the fastest USC player to reach 1,000 career points (38 games) and tied for the fourth-fewest games in Division I history to reach the mark, as part of a 22-point effort againstSanta Clara.[37] On December 3, she scored a season-high 40 points and shot 9-of-11 from three-point range in a 94–52 victory overCalifornia Baptist, breaking the program single-game record in three-pointers.[38] On December 21, Watkins led USC to a 72–70 win against AP No. 4 UConn, with 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists.[39] On January 12, 2025, she posted 35 points on 13-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds, and five steals in a 95–73 win overPenn State.[40] Watkins led USC to a 71–60 victory over undefeated, AP No. 1 UCLA on February 13, recording 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks, and five assists. She became the first Division I player in 20 seasons with at least 35 points, five blocks, and five assists in a game.[41] On March 1, Watkins scored 30 points in a rematch with AP No. 2 UCLA, helping her team win 80–67 and clinch the Big Ten regular season championship.[42]
On March 24, 2025, USC announced that Watkins had torn theanterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee during a game againstMississippi State during the second-round of the2025 NCAA Tournament.[43] The injury and subsequent surgery effectively ended her sophomore season, where she was the nation's fourth-leading scorer.[44]
She was namedWomen's National Player of the Year by theUSBWA, along with being named theNaismith College Player of the Year for the 2024–25 season.[45][46] Watkins was also the winner of the 2025 John R. Wooden Award. Watkins was chosen over fellow finalistsMadison Booker ofTexas,Hannah Hidalgo ofNotre Dame,Lauren Betts ofUCLA, andPaige Bueckers ofUConn.[47] She was named theAnn Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year,[48] becoming the first ever back to back winner of the prestigious award.[49]
On September 29, 2025, it was announced that Watkins would be sitting out for the 2025-2026 basketball season due to her ACL injury.[50]
Watkins won a gold medal with the United States at the2021 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Mexico. She averaged 20 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 3.7 assists per game, earning tournament MVP honors.[51] At the2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Hungary, Watkins led her team to the gold medal and was named MVP after averaging 13.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game.[52]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | USC | 34 | 34 | 34.6 | .401 | .319 | .852 | 7.3 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 4.1 | 27.1 |
| 2024–25 | USC | 33 | 33 | 33.8 | .426 | .325 | .820 | 6.8 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 23.9 |
| Career | 67 | 67 | 34.2 | .412 | .322 | .836 | 7.0 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 25.5 | |
Watkins is the daughter of Robert Neal-Watkins and Sari Watkins. She has three siblings: Mali, Dami, and Mar. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, founded theWatts Labor Community Action Committee.[1] Ted Watkins remains an inspiration in Juju's life, "I feel like my family, my great grandfather and my grandfather, have done so much for the community that it inspires me to want to take that step and really use my platform for something bigger than just basketball."[53]
She lists her family as a main source of motivation in her basketball career and life.[54] Watkins also emphasizes the importance of community. Juju is an active member in her community, she told CBS Sports "From a philanthropy aspect, I try to be as active as I can."[55]
In 2022, as a high school junior, Watkins signed withKlutch Sports Group, becoming the first female athlete to be represented by the agency.[56] Later that year, she signed aname, image and likeness (NIL) deal withNike.[57] In October 2024, Watkins signed a multi-year contract extension with Nike, described by ESPN as one of the largest shoe deals in women's basketball.[58] She has also signed NIL deals withAT&T,Celsius,Dove,Gatorade,NerdWallet,Ritz,State Farm, andWells Fargo among other companies.[59][60][61] Watkins has invested in the women's three-on-three basketball leagueUnrivaled.[62] She is estimated to be one of the highest-earning women's college basketball players from NIL deals and was named Best NIL Athlete bySports Business Journal in 2024.[63][64]
