JuJu Watkins announced Sunday that she plans to sit out the entire 2025-26 college basketball season.
The star USC guard, who was the consensus national player of the year during the 2024-25 season, has been recovering after tearing the ACL in her right knee during the second round of the 2025 NCAA tournament. Watkins released a statement on social media confirming that she would sit out the upcoming season to focus on her recovery.
"These last few months have been filled with a lot of healing, rest, and reflection," Watkins wrote. "Recovering from this injury hasn't been easy, and I want to say thank you—your love, support, and kind words have truly lifted me up during one of the most challenging times in my life. Because you've been with me every step of the way, I wanted you to hear it from me directly that following the advice of my doctors and trainers, I will sit out this season and fully focus on continuing to recover so I can come back to the game I love.
"I'm incredibly thankful for my family, teammates, coaches, the USC training personnel, Jason, Shane, and everyone who's continued to support me every day through this journey. I'm excited to keep putting the work in to come back even stronger."
Watkins suffered her injury on March 24, and the usual recovery time from a torn ACL would be nine to 12 months, which put her season in jeopardy anyway. While this is a bummer for basketball fans, it's not a shock.
As a sophomore last season, Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 33.8 minutes per game. That followed a freshman season in which she averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.6 blocks in 34.6 minutes per game.
It's safe to say the Trojans will miss her this season.
Watkins will not be eligible for the WNBA draft until 2027, so she'll almost certainly be back at USC for the 2026-27 season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as JuJu Watkins Announces She's Out for Entire 2025-26 Season.
