Early this morning, college basketball fans had their worst fears confirmed when it was learned that USC superstar JuJu Watkins tore her ACL last night against Mississippi State and will have season-ending surgery and miss the remainder of the tournament.
“JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending injury in the NCAA Second Round on Monday night,” posted USC Women’s Basketball on X. “She will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter.”
It was a heartbreaking moment for Watkins, her teammates and college basketball fans across the country who were stunned to see the star crumble to the floor on a drive to the basketball early in USC’s game last night against Mississippi State.
Immediately, fans knew it was bad, especially when she was carried off the floor and to the locker room.
“I’m feeling a lot of emotions, obviously,” said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after the game before knowing the outcome of Watkins’ injury. “You never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu that we all lean on in so many ways. But this team rallied. They rallied for her, they rallied for each other, our fans had our back. I’m just really proud and I think we showed what kind of team we are.”
While the team rallied and beat the Bulldogs 96-59 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, everyone’s attention was on the health of Watkins and early this morning they got the devastating news.
USC will now have to refocus the emotional loss of their superstar player and fight through the remainder of the tournament.
JuJu was averaging 24.6 points, seven rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks this season, and, despite the injury, will most likely still win the Naismith Player of the Year award.
We are sending our best to JuJu and hope that she recovers soon.
