How will USC adapt next season without star JuJu | College News
SPOKANE, Wash. — The tenacious freshman stared forward blankly, her eyes welling with tears, the dropping USC locker room silent round her.
Kennedy Smith gave every part she had within the wake of JuJu Watkins’ damage. She helped information USC previous Kansas State within the Sweet 16, pacing the workforce in scoring. And within the Elite Eight, the Trojans had entrusted her, their best on-ball defender, with chasing Paige Bueckers, the Connecticut star and certain No. 1 choose within the WNBA draft.
But it wasn’t enough. Not without Watkins. And within the final gasps of a season that after appeared destined for one thing particular, that was a significantly tough tablet for Smith and her teammates to swallow. Soon enough, they knew, their workforce would look completely completely different. Kiki Iriafen, after an All-American season at USC, is off to the WNBA. Rayah Marshall, after 4 memorable years, is following Iriafen, whereas Talia von Oelhoffen, their start line guard, and Clarice Akunwafo, their defensive stalwart off the bench, exhausted their eligibility.
Many questions concerning the path ahead for USC are nonetheless to be answered. Not the least of which is whether or not Watkins sits out all of next season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her proper knee. But hidden beneath the heartbreak of a match run cut short is hope for a future with Smith and her fellow freshmen holding down the fort till Watkins is healthy enough to return.
“The freshmen, their performance … was unbelievable,” von Oelhoffen mentioned Monday evening. “A preview of what’s to come in the next few years.”
The trio of guards Smith, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel actually gave each motive this March to imagine they’re sure for larger roles next season. Howell already had emerged as a vocal chief whereas main the Trojans in three-point capturing (40%). Heckel served as a spark plug off the bench. And Smith established herself as an elite defender who might rating in bunches if the sport referred to as for it.
Smith’s high faculty coach, Stan Delus, is aware of she’s succesful of a lot more. He’d seen it in her at Etiwanda High and he expects to see it again next season at USC.
“She can score in so many more ways than she shows at USC right now,” Delus informed The Times final month.
USC guard Kennedy Smith celebrates as Mississippi State guard Chandler Prater watches during the Trojans’ second spherical NCAA match win on March 24 on the Galen Center.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
How a lot more Smith and her fellow freshmen will be requested to shoulder that scoring load relies on what occurs within the coming weeks. With Watkins out for the foreseeable future, the Trojans are anticipated to be energetic within the switch portal.
Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, anticipated to be the highest point-guard prospects within the WNBA draft, shocked the basketball world this week by coming into the portal as an alternative. Ta’Niya Latson, who led the nation in scoring this season at Florida State, is also in search of a new workforce. Alongside Watkins, both would make the Trojans’ backcourt arguably essentially the most dynamic in girls’s school basketball.
But USC’s most evident wants are within the frontcourt, the place Iriafen and Marshall received’t be simply changed. USC is slated to convey back only one ahead with enjoying expertise — 6-foot-3 freshman Vivian Iwuchukwu, and she or he averaged solely 2.4 factors and 1.6 rebounds in 18 video games.
Wisconsin’s Serah Williams, the Big Ten defensive participant of the 12 months in 2024, will be the presumptive high option amongst forwards within the portal after she averaged 19.2 factors, 9.8 rebounds, and a couple of.3 blocks. Beyond her the pickings have been fairly slim amongst rim-protecting bigs within the portal.
USC freshman guards Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell greet followers because the depart the courtroom after beating Kansas State within the Sweet 16 on Saturday in Spokane, Wash.
(Jenny Kane / Associated Press)
One dynamic participant is already set to affix the Trojans. Jazzy Davidson, the No. 3 total high faculty prospect within the 2025 graduating class, will give the Trojans one other promising younger option on the wing. How massive of a function she’ll play instantly stays to be seen. But as she’s confirmed the final two seasons, Gottlieb has no downside placing freshmen in crucial positions.
“Freshmen coming into a program like ours … it’s not, you know, learn on the fly, and, we’ll give you a year or two to figure out how to win,” Gottlieb mentioned. “They had to know how to fit into a winning team right away.”
That match was by no means unsure for USC’s freshmen this March. The query now, because the Trojans trudge forward without Watkins, is the place USC could be next March, with Smith, Howell and Heckel presumably main the way in which.
“They’re winners,” Gottlieb mentioned Monday evening, “and I think that’s what they showed at this stage. And I just know they’re going to keep getting better, which is unbelievable.”
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