#350: Heartbreak: JuJu Watkins’ Devastating Injury Shatters USC’s March Madness Dreams

A Devastating Injury and A Silent, Tense Moment

JuJu Watkins, the best women’s college basketball player in America, suffered a season-ending knee injury during her second-round NCAA tournament game against Mississippi State at USC Galen Center. With 4:43 left in the first quarter, Watkins became tangled up while driving hard against the Bulldogs’ Chandler Prater. She was bumped and fell to the hardwood in agony that was apparent even before she hit the ground. Her right knee appeared to be untouched, but it twisted nonetheless, causing Watkins to immediately cry out as the previously deafeningly enthusiastic crowd around her grew sweepingly silent.

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Watkins lay on the ground for several long minutes while being surrounded by coach Lindsay Gottlieb and three other staff members. It became apparent she could not put pressure on the knee when two staffers picked her up and carried her directly to the locker room without even bypassing the Trojan bench. Once Watkins was gone, her teammates channeled their shock and grief into an impressive 96-59 victory. The score was 13-2 when Watkins was injured, the Trojans outscored the Bulldogs 83-57 for the rest of the game. The fans, meanwhile, were more obvious in their pain. They began booing the Bulldogs immediately after the injury and jeered them for the rest of the night.

No Fault to Mississippi State

Don’t blame Mississippi State; they were physical, but Watkins was not injured on a cheap shot. It seemed like one of those freaky basketball knee injuries that just happened. Gottlieb put on a brave face and coached a heckuva game as she led her team to next weekend’s Sweet 16 in Spokane, Wash. But what happens now will not be pretty for neither this glamorous and gifted talent nor the fortunes of her team. The first concern is for Watkins, who is the first female college athlete to receive such royal treatment — she is the first female college athlete to receive such royal treatment — and is her sport’s most celebrated player.

The Future of JuJu Watkins

She ranks second in the nation with a 25-point average while also leading the Trojans in assists and steals and just plain cool. No less than the Lakers coach has raved about her, JJ Redick recently acknowledging his awe after witnessing her greatness. No less than the Washington Commanders’ celebrated quarterback sitting alongside her at Galen Center Saturday afternoon before his famously protective mother sat between them.

A Heartbreaking Pause in Her Journey

She is arguably already one of the most famous college basketball players who grew up in Los Angeles and stayed in Los Angeles, her endearing hometown persona has become as attractive as her game, and it’s so incredibly sad that she has to put that all on hold for this sort of surgery-necessary injury. As Monday’s game ended, the smiling and hugging Trojans left the Galen Center court for the last time this season to a prolonged and appreciative standing ovation from a crowd that filled the gym with cheers and chants. But on the night everything changed, nothing resounded more than the screams.