JuJu Watkins: Possibly the W’s Draft Pick of the Decade?

Home » JuJu Watkins: Possibly the W’s Draft Pick of the Decade?
Sports
November 2, 2026November 2, 2026By Admin
0
JuJu Watkins: Possibly the W’s Draft Pick of the Decade?

JuJu Watkins’ Complete Game Could Make Her the WNBA’s Best Draft Pick of the Decade

LAS VEGAS — JuJu Watkins is returning to the city where her college career began, carrying a different understanding of the game and an ambition that extends beyond what she can accomplish herself.

Before the national player of the year awards, before the injury and the long recovery, there was Las Vegas. Watkins introduced herself to college basketball with 32 points against Ohio State in her USC debut back in Nov. 2023.

Now comes another beginning.

“I started my career here and now senior year, being back in the same place,” Watkins said during a preseason media availability. “Definitely … full circle, and just really grateful to be back on the floor again and ready to share the floor with my team and have fun.”

USC opens its season against UNLV on Monday at T-Mobile Arena (4 pm ET, CBS Sports Network), where one of the most entertaining players’ return will bring one of women’s college basketball’s most compelling stories to Las Vegas.

It also renews a question that could follow her well beyond this season: Does Watkins possess the combination of talent, versatility and influence to become the best player selected in a WNBA draft during the 2020s?

A Generational Ceiling

The competition makes that a substantial proposition.

Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Sabrina Ionescu, Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard are among the decade’s first overall selections. Players taken elsewhere, including Satou Sabally and Angel Reese, broaden a discussion that cannot reasonably be limited to the first name called on draft night.

Watkins has yet to play a professional possession. Several draft classes remain before the decade ends. Any judgment about her eventual standing will require years of evidence.

But the case for her ceiling already has substance.

She can score enough to command a franchise’s offense. Her size and instincts suggest she could also become an influential perimeter defender. And her comments about USC reveal a player who measures part of her contribution by what remains after she leaves.

“I take so much pride in knowing that I’m able to leave SC in a better place than I found it, and it’ll continue to grow years after I’ve left here,” Watkins said.

For a professional franchise considering its future, that ambition matters.

More Than a Scorer

Watkins’ scoring established her national reputation almost immediately.

Her 920 points as a freshman set the national freshman scoring record. Her school-record 51-point performance in a road victory over Stanford demonstrated that she could overwhelm an opponent even when its preparation centered on stopping her.

As a sophomore, she collected the Naismith Trophy, John R. Wooden Award, Associated Press national player of the year honor and the United States Basketball Writers Association’s Ann Meyers Drysdale national player of the year award.

Watkins’ preseason recognition has continued, with the senior joining teammate Jazzy Davidson on the 50-player Naismith Trophy watch list announced Oct. 29. She enters the season as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year and a preseason All-American.

Those accomplishments explain the attention surrounding her comeback. They do not fully explain her potential professional value.

For that, consider what happened against UCLA in February 2025.

Watkins delivered 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in USC’s 71-60 victory over the nation’s top-ranked team. The scoring would have made it a memorable performance. Her work protecting the basket and creating opportunities for teammates made it something considerably more revealing.

She influenced the game in ways an opponent could not address simply by sending another defender toward the ball.

Her recognition as a finalist for the 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award reinforced that her impact extended beyond an exceptional offensive workload.

At 6-foot-2, Watkins has the physical dimensions to challenge perimeter shots, disrupt passing lanes and contribute near the basket. How effectively those abilities translate against professional players will be central to her evaluation.

Her willingness to develop them matters, too.

Asked about teammate Kennedy Smith’s influence on that end of the floor, Watkins praised both her ability and her daily approach.

“I think Ken doesn’t get the recognition she deserves on the defensive end,” Watkins said. “The things that she’s able to do for us on both ends of the floor is really a game changer for us.”

Related Stories

Watkins said Smith’s intensity and competitiveness in practice bring out the best in her and their teammates.

That offers a useful glimpse into the next stage of her development. Already decorated for individual excellence, Watkins sees room to learn from someone beside her.

The best professional version of Watkins could be a player who carries a major scoring responsibility while also making an opponent’s leading perimeter threat work for every possession.

That possibility gives her a distinct path in a crowded generation.

Clark’s shooting range and passing create their own problems for opponents. Bueckers offers scoring, playmaking and adaptability. Ionescu, Boston, Howard and others provide different standards against which Watkins’ eventual career will be measured.

Watkins’ case will depend on how consistently she can combine her strengths, particularly when postseason opponents have the time and personnel to attack weaknesses.

The Work Still Ahead

There are areas that still require development.

She shot 32.5% from 3-point range during her sophomore season. Greater perimeter consistency would make defenders’ decisions more difficult and help preserve driving opportunities.

Ball security and decision-making against professional pressure will require scrutiny. So will her ability to distinguish between a difficult shot she can create and a better possession she can generate for someone else.

Her recovery adds another significant consideration.

Watkins missed the 2025-26 season after suffering a knee injury during the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Her return against California on Oct. 25 came after 580 days away from competition.

She finished with 18 points, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 23 minutes as USC won the exhibition 78-76.

The performance offered encouragement. Watkins described it as part of an ongoing process.

“It gave me kind of like a pulse for where I am physically and mentally,” she said.

A full season will provide a more demanding examination of her conditioning, movement and ability to sustain her impact. One exhibition cannot answer those questions.

Watkins appears focused on the work immediately ahead.

“What’s helped me the most is just staying focused on everything, like one day at a time, and being focused on the small goals that we have as a team,” she said.

A Legacy Beyond Herself

Her individual return takes place within a larger USC project, one she believes in deeply.

“I believed in it when nobody really cared,” Watkins said. “So I’ve always seen the vision.”

She credited coach Lindsay Gottlieb and the staff for sharing that belief, while recognizing the players who helped establish the program’s direction before her arrival.

That distinction matters. Watkins speaks about building something with others, even as her talent makes her its most recognizable figure.

The next franchise she joins will need the same balance: a player who can take over a game and understands the responsibility of helping a team grow.

For now, the task is USC, UNLV and the first official game of her return.

The larger possibilities can wait. Watkins has already given them a foundation.

She can score at a historic level. She has demonstrated uncommon defensive playmaking for her position. She wants her presence to leave a program stronger.

If those qualities translate and endure in the WNBA, the franchise that drafts her could acquire one of the defining players of her generation.

W.G. Ramirez is a veteran sports writer from Las Vegas and a Staff Writer at Ballislife.com. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez

Editor’s Pick

Preseason 2026-27 FAB 50: Teams No. 31-50!Preseason 2026-27 FAB 50: Teams No. 31-50!

The post JuJu Watkins: Possibly the W’s Draft Pick of the Decade? appeared first on Ballislife.com.