USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb releases JuJu Watkins statement: 'She is resilient'

USC women’s basketball star JuJu Watkins went down with a torn ACL in a Round of 32 NCAA Tournament game against Mississippi State. She’ll miss the rest of the season.

On Wednesday, her coach offered up a statement on social media. It included some encouragement for the budding superstar.

“JuJu is a special player — unquestionably tough physically and mentally — and she is deeply loved by her team and her Trojan family,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement released on Twitter. “One thing II know about JuJu is that she is resilient. We are in full support of her and believe that this injury will not shake her drive and dedication to be the best player and person she can be, and to help her teammates shine.

“JuJu’s toughness, her talent and her competitive spirit have impacted our program in more ways than people realize and will continue to inspire us in our pursuit of a national championship.”

In a tweet sent out following the 96-59 win over Mississippi State, the Trojans announced that JuJu Watkins had an unspecified injury that would be season-ending with surgery to come for her. ESPN’s Shams Charania then reported soon after that it was a torn ACL – with the assumption at the time being that it was a significant issue with her right knee based on the on-court look.

Running a fastbreak midway through the first quarter, Watkins went down heading toward the opposing basket. She then went down on the court holding her right knee with an awful reaction to it in real time that suggested how serious it really was.

After being tended to by team personnel, JuJu Watkins was then carried off by two people from the court of the Galen Center and did not return to the game for USC as she was taken to a hospital for an MRI. The injury shocked onlookers.

Watkins exited the game with three points, all from free throws, with two assists, a rebound, and a turnover. That’s after Watkins, the favorite to win the Wooden Award, averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks as a sophomore this season at USC.

This is an injury that’ll impact everything in the sport, namely JuJu Watkins and the Trojans, going even into next season as she fully rehabs from the tear. The immediate effect, though, is massive too with one of the contenders losing one of the very best players that the game has to offer.

As Gottlieb noted, though, USC will attempt to rally behind the JuJu Watkins injury. The program is four more wins from a national title.

On3’s Sam Gillenwater also contributed to this report.