USC's Watkins wins Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
LOS ANGELES » It was a wonder, really, that USC's socialmedia team didn't run out of photos of JuJu Watkins.
Every week for the past 14 weeks, USC women's basketball's official Twitter account has posted a congratulatory photo-illustration in accordance with Watkins earning another Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award — a record 14 of 14, according to the Pac12. Watkins, in the midst of a truly sublime freshman season, has won the award every single week. Somehow, USC's team had the preseason foresight to snap enough pictures of Watkins from every angle to never double down on any graphic; they got particularly creative in week nine, cropping Watkins' photo from the eyes up.
Her eventual nod as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, then, was all but a certainty. And Watkins officially earned the honor Tuesday, en route — currently at 751 points — to snapping Cheryl Miller's all-time USC record for most points scored in a single season (805). The freshman has single-handedly supercharged women's basketball in Los Angeles in a matter of months, the hometown kid averaging 27.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.6 blocks a game as of Tuesday.
It's certainly not the final ribbon on her season, as Watkins and USC (23-5, 13-5 in the Pac-12) head to Las Vegas
for the final Pac-12 tournament this week before beginning a run in March Madness. And the most obvious key to the Trojans' continued success is Watkins' ability to keep her motor running; she has battled through cramps and halftime IVs in an allout freshman season, coach Lindsay Gottlieb speaking continually about the need to find rest for a player who'll leave every drop of sweat on hardwood for 40 minutes.
“I'm still learning that, honestly,” Watkins said after one practice last week, with a shy smile.
Senior teammate and grad transfer McKenzie Forbes, who's been irreplaceable as a secondary scorer and playmaker in averaging 13.1 points and 3.4 assists a game, was named with Watkins to the All-Pac-12 team. Center Rayah Marshall earned an honorable mention honors.
Meanwhile, UCLA (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12) — which could well match up with Watkins, Forbes and USC in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Vegas on Friday — had three players make the All-Pac-12 team, the most of any program in the conference.
Center Lauren Betts (14.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 67% from the field) and the Bruins' backcourt of senior guard Charisma Osborne (14.1 ppg, 4.0 apg) and sophomore Kiki Rice (12.7 ppg, 4.7 apg) were honored.
Osborne and Betts were also named to the All-Pac-12 defensive team, with Watkins and Marshall earning honorable mention honors.
Osborne made her fourth consecutive All-Pac-12 team and picked up her second AllPac-12 defensive honor for the Bruins, who hadn't had three players make the all-conference team since the 2012-13 season with Atonye Nyingifa, Markel Walker, Alyssia Brewer.
Stanford senior forward Cameron Brink was named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.