Juju Watkins scores 1,000th career point, makes USC history
Juju Watkins continues to make history. The USC star scored her 1,000th career point during Friday’s matchup against Santa Clara – and she became the fastest player in Trojans history to reach that mark.
It took Watkins just 38 games to reach 1,000 points. That put her in a tie for the fourth-fastest player in women’s basketball history to do so, joining Kathy Miller and Elena Delle Donne. She entered Friday with 984 career points, and with 22 in the victory over Santa Clara, is now part of the 1,000-point club.
Watkins arrived at USC last year as the top recruit in the country and lived up to the billing. She was a unanimous first team All-American as she averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a freshman. She also earned the USBWA’s Freshman of the Year Award and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the top shooting guard in the country.
Through the first four games of her sophomore season, she hasn’t missed a beat. Watkins entered Friday averaging 21.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 3.7 steals and 4.0 blocks through three games. She then put up 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals as USC cruised to the 81-50 win over Santa Clara.
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Juju Watkins is one of the biggest names in women’s basketball this season and is the focal point of the USC offense this year. The Trojans – in their first year as a Big Ten program – got some help from the transfer portal, though, as they notably landed Kiki Iriafen from Stanford and Talia von Oelhoffen from Oregon State.
Off the court, Watkins is also flourishing in the NIL space. She became the first college athlete to receive a Funko Pop earlier this week, adding to a portfolio that includes NIL deals with Gatorade, Nike and Cactus Jack. Fueled by 12 million social media followers, Watkins currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $576,000, which ranks No. 6 in the college women’s basketball NIL rankings.
The On3 NIL Valuation is calculated by combining roster value and personal NIL. Roster value is the value an athlete has by being a member of his or her team at his or her school, which factors into the role of NIL collectives. NIL in an athlete’s name, image and likeness and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.