USC’s JuJu Watkins out for season with torn ACL

The GIST: All four women’s No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 seeds punched tickets to this weekend’s Sweet 16, but not everything is going according to plan: USC sophomore sensation JuJu Watkins tore her ACL in the Trojans’ 96–59 second-round Monday win over No. 9 Mississippi State, ultimately ending her season. Devastating.

The immediate implications: The show must go on, as they say — for both USC and the tournament at large. But with one of the sport’s brightest stars sidelined, the championship picture has been dramatically altered. The Trojans were a national title contender with Watkins in the lineup, but the climb will be significantly steeper without her.

• Watkins started every single game this season, playing almost 35 minutes (out of 40) per contest on average and dominating both ends of the court with nearly 25 points and 1.8 blocks per game as a guard. She’s simply irreplaceable on the Trojans’ roster.

The road ahead: Watkins will reportedly undergo surgery, and while recovery times vary, she’s expected to miss at least nine months. A return next season isn’t out of the question, but the superstar will certainly take her future pro career into account — and with the WNBA negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement this year (more on that below), there could be lots to weigh.

• As for USC, they’ll lean heavily on All-American Kiki Iriafen, who dropped a season-high 36 points on Monday, and the country’s No. 1 freshman class, led by Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell.

• And while the potential upcoming Elite Eight clash between USC and No. 2 UConn (a rematch of a regular-season tilt that drew a season-high 3.8M viewers) has lost some of its aura, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who tore her ACL in 2022, offers a glimpse at what a post-rehab tourney run could look like. Here’s hoping.