USC Star JuJu Watkins shared a major injury status on Sunday. According to the announcement, the star player will miss the entire 2025-2026 season. Watkins tore her ACL on the right knee during the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament. This year, the player wants to focus solely on her recovery to ensure uninterrupted games for herself in the future.
JuJu Watkins decides to focus solely on her recovery to ensure better performance in the future
JuJu Watkins made the announcement through her social media account on Instagram. The story went viral immediately among the fans. In the announcement, Watkins wrote, “These last few months have been filled with a lot of healing, rest and reflection. 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.” She continued, “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.”Additionally, the player further stated, “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 in work to come back even stronger.”It looks like the player and the team as a unit are trying not to make a rushed decision. Even though Watkins has been around her teammates since the training camp started, she has not stepped onto the court. The star player made a wiser choice for a brighter future in the game she loved the most.
USC Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb shares her opinion of JuJu Watkins’ decision
In the statement released on the official website of USC Athletics, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb further added to the announcement. Lindsay stated, “JuJu’s health and well-being are our top priority, and we fully support her decision to focus on recovery this season. While we will certainly miss her impact on the court, she continues to play a vital role in our program as a leader and teammate.” She further added, “The strength and maturity she has shown through this process is a reflection of who she is, and we know the Trojan Family will continue to rally behind her. We look forward to the day she returns to competition stronger than ever.”In a recent press meet, the head coach talked about how JuJu has been an incredible teammate for others throughout the summer. “She is doing great. I just saw her in the training room. She was with the team all summer, all fall, doing everything around the team. You know, whatever she can, but only relative to her rehab schedule.”
This came just a few days back before JuJu finally revealed her statement in today’s announcement. In the same press meet, Lindsay made it clear that the team would be there for the player no matter what her decision would be. The head coach stated the same after the injury report was revealed by JuJuAlso Read: Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha Curry unlock a ‘new level’ of intimacy in candid photo
