LOS ANGELES — The sound in the Galen Center classroom barely grew louder than a whisper during the 4-plus minutes after USC women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb wrapped up her first media availability of the summer.
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But when USC star JuJu Watkins entered the room, the only noise was the clicks and beeps of cameras – the approximately 20 media members on hand had their eyes, and often their smartphones, glued to the redshirt junior guard.
Gottlieb, Watkins, Kennedy Smith, Jazzy Davidson and five-star recruit Saniyah Hall each spoke to the media on Monday, representing the program ahead of its 50th season and following a 2025-2026 campaign that ended with a second-round loss to No. 1 seed South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
The Trojans finished ninth in the Big Ten last season and were a No. 9 seed for the NCAA Tournament without Watkins, who was a medical redshirt what would have been her junior season after tearing her ACL on March 24, 2025.
After a freshman season that saw her receive first-team All-American honors, Watkins took home the Naismith Award and was the AP Player of the Year as a sophomore, when USC won the Big Ten regular-season title and reached the Elite Eight.
“It’s just been a long time coming,” Watkins said. “I’ve just been working out, grinding every day, so that I could be in this position. … One thing I’ve learned about myself throughout this process is patience is the biggest thing.”
Watkins might garner the spotlight, but there doesn’t seem to be any risk of USC becoming a one-woman show with her return to the lineup.
Davidson averaged 17.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and Gottlieb said Watkins’ return only frees up the reigning USBWA Freshman of the Year to play to her strengths.
“All the talent we have should make everybody more efficient and everybody’s lives a little bit easier,” Gottlieb said. “Collectively, we’re even better than they would be individually. That’s the idea of a team.”
Hall is Gottlieb’s third ESPNW top-ranked recruit in four seasons, following Watkins in 2023 and Davidson in 2025. Even Smith, the Trojan’s highest ranked recruit in 2024, was ranked sixth in her class.
“Coach Lindsey is just a great coach overall,” Hall said. “She doesn’t care about you just as a player, but as a human being.”
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Gottlieb added that, with the help of Selena Castillo, she’s planned the program’s summer with a new level of intention.
“She and I have worked a lot on building out the best summer,” Gottlieb said. “Not just on the court, but off the court experiences for the team.”
USC had a team dinner last week, will practice at the Los Angeles Sparks’ training site on Tuesday, and have workshops on financial literacy and mental strengthening, Gottlieb said. Smith added that the Trojans had a “Love Island” watch party on Friday.
Gottlieb’s two transfer portal pickups were guard Ryann Bennett from UC Davis and center Pania Davis from Florida State.
“P (Davis) is 6-foot-6, she’s mobile, she’s got great hands, but she made a decision, when she finished up at Florida State, to not go home to Australia, to come right here,” Gottlieb said. “She’s a local kid, but if you also talk to anyone who’s coached her or knows her, the first thing they say is winner, connector, understands people – and that’s what we’ve seen.”
Smith, who hails from Chino, added that she’s particularly looking forward to playing alongside Bennett, a Long Beach local, who she has competed with since she was eight.
Along with her teammates, coaches and training staff, Watkins said former Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, was particularly supportive during her recovery.
Watkins said she sees her injury and the past 14 months as a much-needed reset that matured her, helped her find new ways to support the team and allowed her to focus on developing her mental approach to basketball.
But with arguably the nation’s best athlete back on the court, there is a renewed culture and level of competitiveness in the locker room. Davidson added that Watkins is the kind of player who makes everyone she plays with better.
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“I feel like she’s back, but she never left,” Smith said.