JuJu Watkins

Watkins began playing basketball in a park league at age seven and trained with former NBA assistant coach Phil Handy. She attended Windward School in Los Angeles, where she earned Los Angeles Times Player of the Year honors as a freshman after averaging 21 points and nine rebounds per game. As a sophomore, she averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Watkins transferred to Sierra Canyon School before her junior year and led the team to a California Open Division state title and a 30-2 record. As a senior, she helped Sierra Canyon finish 31-1 and win the CIF Southern Section Open Division title while averaging 27.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. She scored a career-high 60 points against Notre Dame High School on senior night.

ESPN ranked Watkins as the number one recruit in the 2023 class. She won Gatorade National Player of the Year and Naismith Prep Player of the Year honors, shared Most Valuable Player honors at the 2023 McDonald's All-American Game and committed to USC over South Carolina and Stanford.

Watkins made her USC debut against Ohio State in November 2023 and scored 32 points in an upset victory, setting the school's freshman debut scoring record. During her freshman season, she scored 51 points against Stanford, breaking USC's single-game scoring record, and scored 42 points against Colorado, setting the Galen Center record for a USC basketball player. She finished the season averaging 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Watkins set the all-time NCAA Division I freshman scoring record with 920 points and became a unanimous first-team All-American. She was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, USBWA and WBCA Freshman of the Year, and won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation's top shooting guard. USC also won the 2024 Pac-12 tournament and reached the NCAA tournament Elite Eight.

In her sophomore season, Watkins became the fastest player in USC history to reach 1,000 career points, doing so in 38 games. She scored a career-high 40 points and made a USC-record nine three-pointers against California Baptist, then recorded 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a win over top-ranked UCLA. She finished the season with national player of the year awards from the AP, Naismith, USBWA, John R. Wooden Award and other organizations, along with Big Ten Player of the Year honors.

Watkins tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during USC's 2025 NCAA tournament game against Mississippi State. The injury ended her sophomore season, and she redshirted the 2025-26 season while recovering.

Watkins won gold with the United States at the 2021 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Mexico. She started all six games, averaged team highs of 20.0 points and 5.2 steals, and was named tournament MVP after recording 28 points in the gold-medal game against Canada.

At the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Hungary, Watkins started all seven games as the United States finished 7-0 and won the gold medal. She averaged a team-high 13.1 points along with 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game, and received MVP and All-Star Five honors. She was also selected to the 2023 USA Women's Nike Hoop Summit team, although she sat out the game because of an injury.

Watkins is the daughter of Robert Watkins and Sari Watkins, and she has three siblings named Mali, Dami and Mar. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, founded the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, and Watkins has described her family's community work as an inspiration.

She has emphasized the importance of family and community in her life and basketball career. Watkins has also spoken about wanting to use her public platform for philanthropy.

In 2022, Watkins signed with Klutch Sports Group, becoming the agency's first female athlete client. She later signed a name, image and likeness deal with Nike, followed by a multi-year Nike contract extension. Her other NIL partnerships have included AT&T, Celsius, Dove, Gatorade, NerdWallet, Ritz, State Farm and Wells Fargo.

Watkins invested in the women's three-on-three basketball league Unrivaled. She also joined the investor group for Boston Legacy FC, an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League, becoming the first NCAA athlete to directly invest in a professional women's sports team.