JuJu Watkins injury: Rebecca Lobo reveals recovery process, impact on future WNBA Draft plans

In the midst of a monster sophomore season at USC, JuJu Watkins saw her year come to an abrupt end Monday night. She was carried off the court at Galen Center with what was later diagnosed as a torn ACL – leading to plenty of questions about what her future will look like, particularly with the 2027 WNBA Draft.

ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo walked through what the next steps would be and pointed out other stars who suffered the same injury during their careers. UConn star Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame standout Olivia Miles both tore their ACLs and missed the following seasons, but came back to put up strong numbers.

With the timing of the injury, Lobo – who also suffered a torn ACL as a player – predicted a 12-month recovery. That would knock Watkins out for 2025-26, although she’d still be WNBA Draft-eligible in 2027, if she chose to declare.

“What we’ve seen, especially recently with high-level athletes in terms of women’s college basketball is it’s about a 12-month recovery process for them to get back on the court,” Lobo said Tuesday on NBA Today. “First of all, emotionally, you’re torn. This is what every athlete dreams of, is this time of year and playing in the NCAA Tournament. And JuJu and her team had a realistic chance to win a national championship this year, so of course, there’s a lot of emotions and feelings there.

“But one thing that she can look to is the success of some of her contemporaries. We saw Paige Bueckers, a couple years go, tear an ACL, and then returned last year and led UConn to a Final Four. Olivia Miles from Notre Dame tore her ACL, sat out last year and this year, she’s having a career year in terms of her efficiency. So we have seen players come back from this, perform at a really high level.”

When it comes to Watkins’ WNBA future, which continues to generate buzz even though she’s only a sophomore, Lobo said she could face an interesting decision. It’s a similar situation to the one Bueckers faced a year ago. She returned from her injury and, even before leading UConn to the Final Four, announced her return for one more year in college rather than go to the WNBA as the likely No. 3 overall pick.

“One of the things that’s interesting to me, as a person who covers the WNBA, JuJu Watkins is a player who is eligible for the 2027 draft,” lobo said. “Assuming she redshirts next season – which I think is a fair assumption – she would still be able to enter that 2027 draft, but could also return to USC for a fourth year of eligibility and wait until the 2028 draft. That’s a layer of this, looking down the road, that is certainly interesting to WNBA GMs.”