September 29, 2025
JuJu Watkins to miss 2025-26 season
Gottlieb: 'We look forward to the day she returns to competition stronger than ever'
University of Southern California All-American JuJu Watkins has announced that she will be missing the 2025-26 basketball season to focus on recovering from an ACL tear. The guard suffered the injury in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament against Mississippi State.
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Watkins shared the news in an Instagram story with text that read: “These last few months have been filled with a lot of healing, rest and reflection. Recovering from this injury hasn’t been easy, and I want to say thank you — your love, support and kind words have truly lifted me up during one of the most challenging times in my life. Because you’ve been with me every step of the way, I wanted you to hear it from me directly that, following the advice of my doctors and trainers, I will sit out this season and fully focus on continuing to recover so I can come back to the game I love.”
She continued: “I’m incredibly thankful for my family, teammates, coaches, the USC training personnel, Jason, Shane and everyone who’s continued to support me every day through this journey. I’m excited to keep putting in work to come back even stronger.”
“JuJu’s health and well-being are our top priority, and we fully support her decision to focus on recovery this season,” USC head basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement. “While we will certainly miss her impact on the court, she continues to play a vital role in our program as a leader and teammate. The strength and maturity she has shown through this process is a reflection of who she is, and we know the Trojan Family will continue to rally behind her. We look forward to the day she returns to competition stronger than ever.”
Watkins finished the 2024-25 season as the recipient of the Women’s Wooden Award and was the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year. She averaged 23.9 points and 3.4 assists per game last season and helped the Trojans clinch the Big Ten regular season title. She is the second-fastest in Division I women’s basketball to reach 1,000 career points, which she did in just 38 games.
In a preseason conference, Gottlieb said that Watkins was “doing great,” and that although she isn’t able to play with the rest of the team, she’s still been an “incredible” teammate. “There’s no one else that’s going to step in and be JuJu and do what she does,” Gottlieb said at the conference, “but I think the way that we want to play will hopefully empower and put the entire team on a platform to do what they do well.”
Watkins, who also averaged 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks during her sophomore season at USC, is widely considered to be one of the best players in college basketball right now. Her injury occurred during her team’s 96-59 win over Mississippi State on March 24, 2025 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, when her knee buckled as she was driving to the basket. She was unable to finish out the tournament, and her Trojans were eliminated in the Elite Eight by the UConn Huskies, who went on to win the National Championship.
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