Big Ten Daily (March 24): Uh Oh, Not JuJu! USC Star Watkins Tears ACL

If you're a fan of women's college basketball and the NCAA Tournament, then you are bumming hard today. One of the brightest stars in the sport, USC's JuJu Watkins, went down during the first quarter of the Trojans' second-round game against Mississippi State on Monday night.

JuJu Watkins was carried off the court and taken to the locker room after suffering an injury on this play. pic.twitter.com/zFgm8PkVnu
— ESPN (@espn) March 25, 2025

Watkins was bringing the ball up the court in traffic at a high rate of speed when she planted hard on her right leg causing her knee to buckle and bend in a very unnatural way. Watkins writhed on the floor while yelling out in obvious pain for several minutes before being carried off the court by some of the USC staff.

Unfortunately, late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, ESPN's Shams Charania confirmed the worst — Watkins tore her ACL and will undergo surgery, obviously ending her portion of the NCAA Tournament as the Trojans did advance past Mississippi State after the injury.

JuJu Watkins has suffered a torn ACL and will undergo surgery, per @ShamsCharania

Prayers up for a speedy recovery 🙏 pic.twitter.com/DU9f21WakI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 25, 2025

The No. 1 seed Trojans will play against No. 5 Kansas State in the Sweet 16 round of the tournament on Saturday, March 29 at 8 pm. Doing so without Watkins will obviously make things tougher, but the Trojans are very talented top to bottom and will now have the added motivation of getting the job done for their injured superstar teammate.

Minnesota, Iowa Hire New Men's Basketball Coaches

For teams that didn't make the NCAA Tournament, the coaching carousel began spinning as soon as the final buzzer sounded a couple of weeks ago. Plenty of programs around the country have already made new hires, with Iow and Minnesota being two of the most recent.

The Hawkeyes pulled the trigger and hired Ben McCollum after his one stellar season as the head coach at Drake. Per the Iowa website, "McCollum arrives in Iowa City with a sterling resume that includes four NCAA Division II national championships (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) at Northwest Missouri State University. In his first season in NCAA Division I, McCollum guided Drake to a school-record 31 wins, the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During his 16-year coaching career, McCollum has amassed a record of 426-95 record for an 81.8 winning percentage. It is fifth-best all-time among collegiate men’s basketball coaches."

As a success story from within the state of Iowa, McCollum has been well received and is expected to find success rather quickly.

“Returning to Iowa City as the head coach of the Hawkeyes is a dream come true for me and my family," McCollum said after being hired. "The passion of Hawkeye fans is unmatched, and I am incredibly excited to get started on this new journey together."

For the Golden Gophers, it's going to be Niko Medved. As a two-time graduate of Minnesota, he seems like the perfect man for the job. He earned both a bachelor's and master's degree from Minnesota, and now returns to his alma mater after a seven-year head coaching stint at Colorado State. It marks the second time Medved has been a coach at Minnesota, as he was an assistant coach during the 2006-07 season.

"I want to thank President Rebecca Cunningham, Mark Coyle and everyone involved in the search, as this really is a dream job for me," said Medved after being tabbed the head man at his alma mater. "I loved my time at Colorado State, and I worked with tremendous people who made a lasting impact on my life. Those are memories that I will cherish forever. This job was too special to pass up and when the opportunity presented itself, I had to take it. I grew up a Gopher about 15 minutes away from The Barn. I went to school here, was a student manager here and coached here. This is a special place, it's home, and I cannot wait to get started."

Four Big Ten Teams Remain In NCAA Tournament

After starting out 10-0 in the first round, the Big Ten has come back to Earth a bit. Now, just four teams remain as things really heat up in the Sweet 16.

(1) Florida vs. (4) Maryland | Fox Sports

Ole Miss vs. Michigan State — (6) Ole Miss vs. (2) Michigan State | Fox Sports

(1) Auburn vs. (5) Michigan | Fox Sports

Games obviously get tougher and tougher the longer you survive in the NCAA Tournament, but the Big Ten is up against a gauntlet starting on Thursday. Purdue, Maryland and Michigan all face No. 1 seeds in Houston, Florida and Auburn, respectively. As you can see, all three are underdogs in their games. The Michigan State Spartans, however, are favored by 3.5 points over the Ole Miss Rebels as the No. 2 seed. It'll be interesting to see if any of the four can survive the weekend with such tough matchups.

Minnesota, Iowa Hire New Men's Basketball Coaches

Four Big Ten Teams Remain In NCAA Tournament

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