The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament was fortunate to have all four No. 1 seeds advance to the Sweet 16, but the event lost major star power with Monday's news that USC standout JuJu Watkins suffered a season-ending torn ACL in her right knee during the Trojans' win.
It's a tragic loss for Watkins, a sophomore All-American and the player who was perhaps best positioned to build on a massive following in taking former Iowa guard Caitlin Clark's spot as the star of women's college basketball. Watkins averaged 24.6 points per game this past season after setting an NCAA freshman scoring record a year ago.
Watkins' popularity off the court challenges her dominance on the court. She has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, which is double the combined following of the team accounts for the tournament's top four seeds in USC, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas. She was spotted in the stands talking with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels during the opening weekend's games in Los Angeles, giving her a newfound reach with sports fans outside of women's basketball.
ADVERTISEMENT
So the tournament now moves forward without its biggest draw, and the question is how the event can pull fans in without her. Can USC get to Tampa, the home of the Final Four, without Watkins? The Trojans are 30-3 and now will look to 6-foot-3 senior forward Kiki Iriafen, a graduate transfer from Stanford, to lead them on the court, averaging 18.6 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds this season.
If the Trojans can't advance to the Final Four, it could clear a path for a mainstay of women's college basketball, the No. 2-seeded UConn Huskies, who boast one of the game's biggest names in senior point guard Paige Bueckers. UConn has won 11 national titles under coach Geno Auriemma, but none since 2016, despite making six of the last eight Final Fours since their last championship. USC handed UConn one of its three losses this season, so a regional final showdown would be a highly anticipated rematch, even without Watkins on the court.
Watkins' absence can shine a bigger light on the rest of the sport's young stars, like Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo, already a two-time first-team All-American as a sophomore. The third-seeded Fighting Irish face a potential regional final against top-seeded Texas and sophomore forward Madison Booker, another All-American. Meanwhile, top-seeded UCLA has its own All-American in 6-foot-7 junior center Lauren Betts. Don't forget defending national champion South Carolina, which lacks a dominant singular star but has one of the game's most widely recognized coaches in Dawn Staley, with two titles in the last three years.
It's possible, too, that if USC can prevail and advance without its best player, the Trojans could be even more compelling as a team to root for as they try to overcome adversity.
"I'm feeling a lot of emotions, obviously, but the biggest one is pride," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after Monday's win over Mississippi State, with the loss of Watkins hanging over the excitement of advancing. "What a performance by this group. When you throw a bunch of talented people on a team, it doesn't become a team until you work through some things. I always thought throughout the year that if we had something we had to work on, (it's) when things didn't work out right away, we sometimes stressed out. Something didn't go right for us, and you never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu that we all lean on in so many ways, but this team rallied. They rallied for her. They rallied for each other. Our fans had our back. I'm just really proud."
USC opens play in the Sweet 16 on Saturday in Spokane, Washington, against fifth-seeded Kansas State, which upset fourth-seeded Kentucky in overtime, led by eight 3-pointers from forward Temira Poindexter. If the Trojans win there, they would likely face UConn on Monday night for a spot in the Final Four, in what is now perhaps the most eagerly anticipated matchup of the weekend.
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
