After a stellar season that included a Big Ten regular season championship, USC forward JuJu Watkins has been named Big Ten Player of the Year and the Trojans’ Lindsay Gottlieb earned coach of the year honors following a vote among league coaches and media members.
USC posted a 17-1 run through the Big Ten, with its league wins coming by an average margin of 17 points. The Trojans capped that run with a rout of rival UCLA on Saturday to capture the Big Ten conference crown, marking the first time the Trojans have won a regular season league title in 31 years.
Watkins was central to that dominance, establishing herself as one of college basketball’s preeminent stars. Watkins actually averaged fewer points (24.4) and rebounds (6.7) as a sophomore than she did as a freshman, but her efficiency on the floor improved significantly. She shot better from both inside the arc — up from 40% to 43% — and outside — up from 32% to 34%. She averaged fewer turnovers and more assists, while also averaging more blocks per game (2) than all but one other guard in college basketball.
In the process, Watkins became one of the fastest in women’s basketball history to pass the 1,000-point mark, outpacing former Iowa star Caitlin Clark, who won the previous three Big Ten Player of the Year awards.
For Gottlieb, the Trojans’ run this season marked the culmination of a four-year rebuild that began in 2021, when she inherited a program that hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game during the previous 15 years. USC finished 12-16 in her first season, but hasn’t missed the NCAA tournament since.
This season, Gottlieb brought in a star-studded class of transfers and top recruits to surround Watkins, and the revamped Trojans responded with a 27-2 regular season. USC’s two losses were tied for its fewest ever in the regular season, a mark matched only by the 1982-83 Trojans, who won the national title and are widely considered to be one of the best women’s college teams of all time.
Three of USC’s other four starters earned Big Ten honors.
Kiki Iriafen, who transferred to USC from Stanford last spring to team with Watkins, joined her on the All-Big Ten first team after a season in which she averaged 18.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Watkins and senior Rayah Marshall were named to the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team, while freshman Kennedy Smith earned All-Freshman team honors. Marshall and Smith also earned All-Big Ten honorable mentions.
UCLA center Lauren Betts earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors and was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, while fellow Bruin Janiah Barker earned Big Ten Sixth Person of the Year.
Freshman of the Year was the only major Big Ten award that didn’t go to a Southern California team, with Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge and Michigan’s Olivia Olson splitting the honors.
Betts joined UCLA’s Kiki Rice on the All-Big Ten first team. UCLA’s Londynn Jones earned league honorable mention honors.
USC will need three consecutive wins in Indianapolis to add Big Ten tournament champions to its list of accomplishments. The Trojans begin tournament play on Friday.
