{"id":19055,"date":"2026-06-30T20:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055"},"modified":"2026-06-30T20:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:08:09","slug":"usc-star-juju-watkins-back-on-the-court-ahead-of-trojans-50th-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055","title":{"rendered":"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The sound in the Galen Center classroom barely grew louder than a whisper during the 4-plus minutes after USC women\u2019s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb wrapped up her first media availability of the summer.<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts is back to \u2018normal\u2019 after adjusting his work to fit the present<\/a><\/p>\n

But when USC star JuJu Watkins entered the room, the only noise was the clicks and beeps of cameras \u2013 the approximately 20 media members on hand had their eyes, and often their smartphones, glued to the redshirt junior guard.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been a long time coming,\u201d Watkins said. \u201cI\u2019ve just been working out, grinding every day, so that I could be in this position. \u2026 One thing I\u2019ve learned about myself throughout this process is patience is the biggest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watkins might garner the spotlight, but there doesn\u2019t seem to be any risk of USC becoming a one-woman show with her return to the lineup.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 Watkins\u2019 return only frees up the reigning USBWA Freshman of the Year to play to her strengths.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAll the talent we have should make everybody more efficient and everybody\u2019s lives a little bit easier,\u201d Gottlieb said. \u201cCollectively, we\u2019re even better than they would be individually. That\u2019s the idea of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall is Gottlieb\u2019s third ESPNW top-ranked recruit in four seasons, following Watkins in 2023 and Davidson in 2025. Even Smith, the Trojan\u2019s highest ranked recruit in 2024, was ranked sixth in her class.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Lindsey is just a great coach overall,\u201d Hall said. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t care about you just as a player, but as a human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more LeBron James rumors persist as Deandre Ayton opts in with Lakers, Marcus Smart opts out<\/a><\/p>\n

Gottlieb added that, with the help of Selena Castillo, she\u2019s planned the program\u2019s summer with a new level of intention.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cShe and I have worked a lot on building out the best summer,\u201d Gottlieb said. \u201cNot just on the court, but off the court experiences for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

USC had a team dinner last week, will practice at the Los Angeles Sparks\u2019 training site on Tuesday, and have workshops on financial literacy and mental strengthening, Gottlieb said. Smith added that the Trojans had a \u201cLove Island\u201d watch party on Friday.<\/p>\n

Gottlieb\u2019s two transfer portal pickups were guard Ryann Bennett from UC Davis and center Pania Davis from Florida State.<\/p>\n

\u201cP (Davis) is 6-foot-6, she\u2019s mobile, she\u2019s 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,\u201d Gottlieb said. \u201cShe\u2019s a local kid, but if you also talk to anyone who\u2019s coached her or knows her, the first thing they say is winner, connector, understands people \u2013 and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, who hails from Chino, added that she\u2019s particularly looking forward to playing alongside Bennett, a Long Beach local, who she has competed with since she was eight.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But with arguably the nation\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Read more Angels support Mike Trout\u2019s All-Star candidacy with fashion statement<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like she\u2019s back, but she never left,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The USC women\u2019s basketball program gets the 2024-25 Naismith Award winner back from injury and adds the nation\u2019s No. 1 recruit following a season that ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUSC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The USC women\u2019s basketball program gets the 2024-25 Naismith Award winner back from injury and adds the nation\u2019s No. 1 recruit following a season that ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T20:08:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T20:08:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055\"},\"wordCount\":790,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055\",\"name\":\"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T20:08:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":681},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=19055#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"The USC women\u2019s basketball program gets the 2024-25 Naismith Award winner back from injury and adds the nation\u2019s No. 1 recruit following a season that ended with a second-round NCAA Tournament loss.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-30T20:08:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season","datePublished":"2026-06-30T20:08:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055"},"wordCount":790,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp","articleSection":["Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055","name":"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-30T20:08:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5d923559710c15022e08ebc13a94d2f6.webp","width":1024,"height":681},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19055#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"USC star JuJu Watkins back on the court ahead of Trojans\u2019 50th season"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}