Opinion: How did Juju Watkins' injury impact USC's title run?

For the second straight season the USC Trojans earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and for the second straight season they were eliminated by UConn in the Elite Eight. This time around things looked a little different as star JuJu Watkins did not play after suffering a torn ACL in the second round.

So the question is how much did Watkins' absence play a role in the Trojans fate.

The biggest argument to be made is that Watkins played in the Elite Eight last year and USC still lost, but this go around things were different. The Trojans had more weapons this year, specifically ones that worked really well with Watkins on the floor.

This season USC brought in transfers such as Kiki Iriafen from Stanford and Talia Von Oelhoffen from Oregon State. Along with this, coach Lisa Gottlieb’s 2024 recruiting class ranked as the best in the nation.

Gottlieb has done a great job rebuilding the program, but it all started with bringing in a generational player like Watkins.

Before falling to injury, Watkins beat out UCLA’s Lauren Betts to earn Big Ten Player of the year honors, emerging as a front runner for National Player of the Year.

Watkins was dominant for the Trojans in the postseason games she appeared in. The sophomore averaged 26.7 points in USC’s three Big Ten Tournament games and posted an additional 22 points in the teams first round win of the NCAA Tournament.

While there’s no doubt that Watkins is one of the best scorers in college basketball, it was her universal presence on the court and ability to perform in all areas that was missed the most in the Trojans loss.

It is not very often that a player who scores as efficiently as Watkins does is also as skilled of a passer. Watkins led USC with 3.4 assists per game and finished the season with 113 assists, which ties with Von Oelhoffen for the team lead.

Watkins has had an impact on both sides of the court all year long. She was named a finalist for National Defensive Player of the Year. Watkins led the Trojans with 72 steals on the season and an average of 2.2 per game. She also finished second in blocks with 58 total and 1.8 per game.

USC proved that it could win games without Watkins. The Trojans defeated Mississippi State 96-59 on the same night that Watkins went down. Their Sweet 16 win over Kansas State might have been a little too close for comfort, defeating the Wildcats by a slim 67-61 margin.

However, these games weren’t the concern for USC. The worry for how much Watkins’ absence would affect the Trojans game when it was time to face the big guns – the UConn Huskies.

This Elite Eight matchup was a rematch of an early season contest that saw USC come out on top 72-70. Watkins was the games leading scorer with 25 points. In this game Watkins also posted six rebounds and five assists.

Fast forward to March, the Huskies defeated the Trojans 78-64. The fact that USC fell by double-digits showed that Watkins was needed more than they would’ve hoped.

Watkins season low in points this year was 14, which means that she was almost guaranteed to have a double-digit performance.

Would Watkins have matched Paige Bueckers’ 31 points, possibly not, but she definitely would’ve made it a closer game.

Another thing to consider is that had Watkins been on the floor, the game plan for both teams would’ve been completely different.

Watkins’ defense might’ve been what the Trojans needed to shut Bueckers down. On the other hand, the Huskies have a strong scoring defense and they could have limited Watkins,

The truth is we will never know what would’ve happened if Watkins remained healthy, but it is certainly a question that college basketball fans will think about for a long time.

Gianna Dowling is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email gmd5738@psu.edu.