UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma was asked to answer a question within one minute so the broadcast could jump over to the final game of the night, where JuJu Watkins was preparing to lead USC to a potential Sweet 16 berth.
“Oh, man. Get off me right now, let’s get to her,” Auriemma said. “I want to watch her play.”
The rest of the nation feels the same way as the winningest coach in college basketball.
Watkins is the biggest name in college basketball and a generational talent who is on pace to break Caitlin Clark’s NCAA all-time scoring record. Her games draw diehards and casual fans alike. In the city of lights, stars are filling USC’s Galen Center nightly to see her play with an ease few can match.
And in her sophomore year, with a team built to make a run at a national championship, the two-way standout was set to further break out during a month that creates legends. The first weekend was nothing more than a first step to the grander lights.
Those lights dimmed quickly.
Less than six minutes into the game against Mississippi State, Watkins appeared to injure her right knee on a fast break. After catching a pass near halfcourt, she and two Bulldogs were in the same vicinity when Watkins’ leg buckled beneath her. She immediately grabbed her knee in pain and was carried down the closest tunnel. The team announced at halftime she was being evaluated by USC’s Keck Medicine staff and would not return to the game. The long-term prognosis is unknown.
USC’s JuJu Watkins reacts on the floor after her injury against Mississippi State on Monday. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)
It is, in simple terms, an absolute bummer. Watkins, known to have a stone-cold face of competition in her rare minutes on the bench, will carve up a defender without showing emotion. So when she grasped at her knee, it was clear immediately that is was bad. Really, really bad.
The moment sucked the life out of Galen Center and living rooms around the country. It’s a landscape-altering injury that no one ever wants to see, especially not now, in March.
USC’s chances at a national championship, should Watkins miss the rest of the tournament, are nearly non-existent. Meanwhile, Connecticut’s took a leap up with an easier road out of the Spokane 4 region. And the rest of the favorites don’t have to worry about facing the best player in the nation on their own paths to lifting the trophy in Tampa. She’s ranked second nationally in scoring average both seasons of her collegiate career and emerged this year as one of the nation’s best defenders.
USC and UConn were on a collision course to meet in the regional final for a second consecutive year with a spot in the Final Four on the line. It was a matchup circled as soon as the bracket was released for a litany of reasons.
Two player of the year contenders in Watkins and Paige Bueckers would face each other on the college stage one last time. Bueckers, who won the POY as a freshman, has yet to win a title. Watkins could potentially win multiple. They’re two superstars on the court and in name, image, likeness deals that have helped push women’s basketball to new heights. Both earned unanimous All-American honors last week.
The resurgent Trojans, who haven’t reached the Final Four since 1986 and haven’t won a national championship since 1984, likely have to go through the sport’s powerhouse, 11-time national champion UConn. As South Carolina has done before them, it was a chance for USC to prove its place and slay the sport’s Goliath.
The buzz was loud and would have only built. USC could also match up for a fourth time with rival UCLA, an opponent against which Watkins has played her best games. And a national championship game featuring Watkins could boost viewership numbers that will surely drop from the 2024 all-time high, but are still on the incline.
Watkins’ injury, if as serious as it looks, will reverberate throughout the rest of the tournament and coming seasons. It’s unfortunate for USC, the tournament, the fans and the game alike.
If anyone knows what that’s like, it’s Auriemma and UConn. Bueckers sustained a season-ending ACL injury in practice ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Huskies missed the Final Four, snapping their record 14-year streak.
In a cruel twist, a serious injury could be why they make it back to the final weekend. It won’t be the way anyone wanted.
