Watkins’ poise and patience has her playing at a professional level collegiately
For years, the NBA allowed the best high school stars to jump directly from the amateur to professional level. That’s since changed to the current world of “one-and-done” players going to college, or overseas, for a season before trying their hand at the top level. In the WNBA, four years is required to make that jump.
While the reasons are valid for making players wait in a league with only 12 active teams, and three more on the way, there are no LeBron James-like situations where generational talent doesn’t have to wait to prove themselves to the world. That’s a shame, because down the road from James and the Staples Center is USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins, a star who’s already playing at a professional level as a college sophomore.
There are numerous ways in which Watkins established herself in one season. Scoring 32 points in her freshman debut against a ranked Ohio State team (playing only 31 minutes due to foul trouble), scoring 51 points on the Stanford Cardinal in conference play or leading the Trojans to an upset win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game. All culminating in a spot on the AP All-American First Team, only one of five freshmen to ever do it.
Scoring is important, and Watkins 27.1 points per game as a freshman were only second to Caitlin Clark at Iowa. However what makes Watkins so dangerous is the poise and patience on the court.
Only Watkins knows what’s going on inside her head, but from the outside perspective, the game is in slow motion to the Los Angeles native.
Watkins moves the USC offense up the court and she takes her time, always looking up at what’s ahead. The Trojan reads the defense, watches teammates move to their next position and decides which course of action is the best.
Then Watkins attacks.
It’s not a run at breakneck speed like Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo. Watkins is methodical with her movements. It’s an effortless speed that almost looks slow, but it’s the 6-foot-2 guard using her size in an effective, and dangerous, stride.
If a defender is out of position, or there’s a hole in the zone, it’s a drive to the basket. Known for crossovers from her left to right, Watkins adjusted and started incorporating moves to the left. If a second defender closes in, Watkins stops and hits a smooth midrange jumper. If an opponent thinks Watkins is letting a play develop and gives her space from deep, the guard will throw up a three-point shot.
Using the “guard” position classification on Watkins is unfair. It doesn’t encapsulate everything Watkins does on the court.
Yes, there are guard elements, like Watkins’ passing. Part of that court vision is finding teammates. Last season, Watkins was second on the team in assists with 112, only McKenzie Forbes bested the freshman with 115–with Watkins playing one less game.
It’s a small sample size this season, but in three games Watkins averages 4.7 with new weapons around her like freshman Kennedy Smith and First Team All-Pac-12 forward Kiki Iriafen who transferred in from Stanford this offseason.
The WNBA is famously known for defense and a level of toughness above NCAA basketball. Watkins isn’t a guard who can get mismatched against a big on a screen switch. The 6-foot-2 star can guard from positions one to five.
That’s evident so far in her sophomore season. Watkins’ presence near the basket is at a new level. In three games, Watkins has 12 blocks. Now, non-conference schedules are ripe with mismatches between Power Five schools and mid-majors. But Watkins best interior defensive performance came in Paris, France against the No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels.
Watkins had five of her 12 blocks of the season against the ranked SEC side, in a game that ended with a narrow 68-66 victory for the Trojans. Without Watkins, who also had a double-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, USC was on the losing end.
It’s not likely that the college entry rules change in the WNBA until at least after the next round of collective bargaining closes. However, if the WNBA followed suit with the NBA, the nation wouldn’t be talking about USC star JuJu Watkins. They’d be talking about the WNBA star JuJu Watkins.
