JuJu Watkins Is WBCA’s National Freshman of the Year

Women’s Basketball | April 03, 2024

Fresh off setting the national scoring record for a freshman, USC’s JuJu Watkins has been named the WBCA Freshman of the Year. The guard was instrumental in USC’s first run to the NCAA Elite Eight since 1994, and she has deservedly collected yet another prestigious award for her outstanding efforts with the Women of Troy. She is the first USC player to be named National Freshman of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, and is still in line for several more honors as the 2023-24 season comes to a close. 

Watkins wrapped the Trojan’s 2023-24 season as the nation’s highest-scoring freshman in history with 920 points scored in her freshman campaign. Her point total also ranks her No. 4 all-time among all Pac-12 players. She already holds another USC record (male or female) with 14 games with 30 or more points scored — a mark that beats out Iowa’s Caitlin Clark previous national record of 12 for the most such games for a freshman over the last 25 seasons. The No. 2 scorer in the nation with her 27.1 points per game, Watkins set yet another USC record with a 51-point outing in a USC road upset of Stanford, and that mark still stands as the most points scored by any player in the nation this season. Additionally, Watkins’ 42 points vs. Colorado on Feb. 23 is the most points ever scored by a USC basketball player (male or female) at Galen Center. And with 241 free throws made this season, Watkins stands tall in setting yet another USC single-season record.

But Watkins provides more than just scoring for these No. 3-ranked Trojans. Entering the NCAA Tournament, she stood as the only player in the country averaging multiple steals per game as well as 1.5 blocks per game, and also as the only player in the nation to rank inside the top-75 for both steals and blocks per game. 

On the season, Watkins averaged a team-high 2.3 steals and 3.3 assists per game and was the team’s second leading rebounder with 7.3 per game and second in shot blocks with 1.7 per game. In fact, she is one of just five Pac-12 players ever to tally at least 750 points, 150 rebounds and 50 steals in a season. She also finished out her first season as a Trojan with nine double-doubles, and was named to the NCAA Portland Region 3 All-Tournament Team.

Watkins was named to the…