After suffering a season-ending ACL tear in March, there is still no set timetable for JuJu Watkins to return to the court.
USA Today reported that Lindsay Gottlieb, head coach at USC, gave an update on Watkins’ health status while talking to reporters on Thursday, Sept. 18, saying the star player is “doing great.”
“JuJu is going to be back at some point,” Gottlieb said.
“She’s doing well, I don’t have too much more to elaborate on that,” Gottlieb added. It’s a long process, and I’m just trying to be here for her to make sure this time when she’s not able to play the game that I’m still what she needs me to be.”
“I have no other update in terms of timetable, so just to preemptively say I don’t know anything else other than that, other than she’s attacking her rehab and in a really good, good place with that,” she added.
Before her injury, Wakins was putting together another remarkable season. She averaged 23.9 points per game, sixth most in Division I, along with 3.4 assists and 6.8 rebounds per game. Watkins also scored in double figures in 32 of the 33 games she played. She was named Big Ten Player of the Year, was a unanimous first-team All-American selection, and was named the women’s 2025 Naismith National Player of the Year.
Although Watkins will still be out at least in the beginning of the season, USC is still a powerhouse in the Big Ten and is considered one of the favorites to reach the Final Four. Kennedy Smith is returning after a superb year, and they added consensus five-star recruit Jazzy Davidson and Londynn Jones, a transfer from UCLA.
