JuJu Watkins Being Shut Down For Junior Season Raises Questions About USC Future

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins announced on social media that she will not be playing for the entire 2025-2026 season. The superstar tore her ACL this past March and will spend the year focusing on her injury recovery.

Mar 24, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) during pregame warmups before an NCAA Tournament second round game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

USC Trojans superstar guard JuJu Watkins announced on Sunday night that she will be sitting out the entire 2025-2026 season. Watkins suffered a torn ACL in the second round of the 2025 NCAA tournament this past March.

How does this affect Watkins’s future with the Trojans?

JuJu Watkins Shut Down For 2025-2026 Season 

Mar 24, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) during pregame warmups before an NCAA Tournament second round game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

JuJu Watkins announced on her Instagram that she would not be playing this upcoming season to focus on her rehab process as she recovers from a torn ACL.

“These last few months have been filled with a lot of healing rest and reflection. Recovering from this injury hasn’t been easy, and I want to say thank you,” Watkins said on Instagram. “I will sit out this season and fully focus on continuing to recover so I can come back to the game I love.”

USC superstar JuJu Watkins will sit out this next season as she recovers from her ACL tear, she announced on Instagram pic.twitter.com/NxSnZQblP1

— Ryan Kartje (@RyanKartje) September 29, 2025

Watkins was the best player in all of women’s college basketball last season. In what was her sophomore year, she averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. This earned Watkins the 2025 Wooden Award for being the best player in college basketball. 

She led USC to a record of 30-3 in games she played. The Trojans won the Big Ten regular season title in their first year as a member of the conference. They earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season and had legitimate national title hopes.

Unfortunately, nobody will ever know the full potential of what that 2024-25 team would have been. In their second round game against Mississippi State, Watkins tore her ACL. The Trojans rallied around her absence and made it all the way to the Elite Eight, but they were no match for the eventual national champion UConn Huskies. 

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Future For JuJu Watkins, USC Trojans 

Mar 22, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb greets guard JuJu Watkins (12) as she comes out of the game in the fourth quarter of an NCAA Tournament game against the UNC Greensboro Spartans at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

With Watkins missing another full season, some speculated that is there a possibility that she could end up forgoing her senior season and instead enter the 2026 WNBA Draft. However, Watkins is not eligible for the draft until 2027.

Watkins didn’t indicate this being a possibility in her post, and it’s not off the table that a team picking at the top of the draft would want to select her if she fully recovers and is ready to go by the WNBA Draft in April. However, Watkins might not even be on the board.

Feb 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) dribbles against UCLA Bruins guard Londynn Jones (3) during the fourth quarter at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Former UConn guard Paige Bueckers was one of the top players in the country when she tore her ACL before her junior season a few years ago. Bueckers played at UConn for two more years even though she was already projected as a top pick in the WNBA Draft. Bueckers led UConn to the national title in her final year.

Bueckers ended up being selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings.