JuJu Watkins

Judea Skies "JuJu" Watkins (born July 15, 2005) is an American college basketball player for the USC Trojans. She graduated from Sierra Canyon School in her hometown of Los Angeles, where she was ranked as the number one recruit in her class by ESPN and earned national high school player of the year honors. Watkins led the United States to gold medals at the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup and the 2021 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship, being named most valuable player (MVP) of each tournament.

Early life and high school career
Watkins is the daughter of Robert Neal-Watkins and Sari Watkins. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, founded the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. She started playing basketball in a park league at age seven. Watkins trained with Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy and modeled her game after Arike Ogunbowale. As a freshman at Windward School in Los Angeles, Watkins averaged 21 points and nine rebounds per game, leading her team to the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game and the regional final. She was named the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year. In 2020, Watkins was named SportsKid of the Year by Sports Illustrated Kids. As a sophomore at Windward, she averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Entering her junior year, Watkins transferred to Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles. 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 California Gatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball. She earned player of the year honors from the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News. 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. 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 over Notre Dame High School. Watkins was recognized as Gatorade National Player of the Year and Naismith Prep Player of the Year. She repeated as player of the year from the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News, as well as California Gatorade Player of the Year and Ms. Basketball. Watkins played in the McDonald's All-American Game, where she shared MVP honors, and the Nike Hoop Summit.

Recruiting
Watkins was considered a five-star recruit and the number one player in the 2023 class, according to ESPN. On November 15, 2022, she announced her commitment to USC over offers from South Carolina and Stanford.

College career
On November 6, 2023, Watkins made her college debut and scored 32 points in an 83–74 upset win over AP No. 7 Ohio State. She set the USC record for points in a freshman debut, surpassing Lisa Leslie from 1990. On November 22, she posted her first double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 71–70 win over Penn State. It was the first of three consecutive 30-point games by Watkins, which tied Cheryl Miller for the longest such streak in program history. On January 14, 2024, Watkins recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds in a 73–65 win over AP No. 2 UCLA. On February 2, she scored a career-high 51 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 67–58 victory over AP No. 4 Stanford. Watkins broke the USC single-game scoring record held by Cherie Nelson since 1989. It was the first 50-point game by an NCAA Division I freshman since Elena Delle Donne of Delaware in 2010. On February 23, Watkins scored 42 points in an 87–81 win over AP No. 11 Colorado. She set the single-game scoring record for the Galen Center, her team's home arena, and had her 11th 30-point game, surpassing Cheryl Miller for the most in a season by a USC player. In her next game, Watkins posted 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 74–68 loss to AP No. 18 Utah, passing Paula McGee for the program freshman single-season scoring record. At the end of the regular season, she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-12, while earning All-Defensive Team honors from the league's media. Watkins lead USC to a Pac-12 Tournament title over then #2 Stanford. She broke the NCAA Division I freshman scoring record with 920 points, surpassing the mark of 898 set by Tina Hutchinson four decades earlier in 1983–84.

National team career
Watkins won a gold medal with the United States at the 2021 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. At the 2022 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.

College

 * style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24
 * style="text-align:left;"| USC
 * 34 || 34 || 34.6 || 40.1 || 31.9 || 85.2 || 7.3 || 3.3 || 2.3 || 1.6 || 4.1 || 27.1
 * 34 || 34 || 34.6 || 40.1 || 31.9 || 85.2 || 7.3 || 3.3 || 2.3 || 1.6 || 4.1 || 27.1

Off the court
In her junior year of high school, Watkins signed with Klutch Sports Group, becoming the first female athlete to be represented by the agency. On October 10, 2022, she signed a name, image and likeness deal with Nike.