JuJu Watkins is one of the best basketball players in the country. Not just in March Madness, not just in college sports, but across the entirety of basketball. Her run with USC this year was supposed to be a sign of things to come for the player who is soon expected to take over the crown of the best player in women’s college basketball from Paige Bueckers.
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Unfortunately, in the same way that shocking losses are a part of basketball, so are injuries, and it seems that Watkins had suffered a major one on Monday night.
With four minutes left in the first quarter, she drove against two defenders and collapsed into a writhing pile of flailing limbs and agonizing screams. She had to be carried off the court while the whole arena looked on.
It was hard to watch this injury happen and not compare it to other major lower-body injuries we’ve seen. Jordan Horston’s torn ACL comes to mind immediately, featuring the herky-jerky motions of a failed drive immediately leading to a crash to the ground.
The initial optics are pretty terrible. Many have pointed out that the right knee fully collapses, to which Watkins immediately reacted by grabbing specifically the front of the knee.
Worst of all, she could not put any weight whatsoever on the leg as a whole. According to Sebastian Fearon, a doctor of physical therapy, the best-case scenario seems to be basic ligament damage. The worst case, and far more expected, scenario is the haunting torn ACL. It could result in Watkins not only being out of action from the remainder of the NCAA tournament, but also for the next 12 months.
While looking at JuJu’s reaction and her movement, Dr. Fearon noted, “Juju Watkins was carried off the court & did not even attempt to put any weight on the leg. The immediate fear & worst-case scenario is an ACL Tear. Hard to imagine there’s not at least some knee ligament damage.”
USC ⭐️ Juju Watkins Injury
One of the best players in Women’s Basketball just went down with a R knee injury
Don’t love the optics here at all
R knee collapses + immediate grab near front of knee + unable to put any weight on it
At this point, prayers up for Juju pic.twitter.com/TkX9NwlBFO
— Sebastian Fearon DPT, CSCS, OCS (@TheDegenDoc) March 25, 2025
Watkins’ USC is still dominating the lesser Mississippi State Bulldogs, with a 20-point lead at the end of the first. However, the focus of the players, fans, and everyone else involved is clearly centered on the severity of the injury facing the 19-year-old.
Many fans were quick to compare it with the horrifying knee injuries NBA stars have faced in the past. To a few, it seemed like a repeat of Derrick Rose’s career-altering ACL tear.
One fan wrote – “God I am not dealing with another Derrick Rose situation you better heal that knee up now. My favorite men’s basketball player ever was injury-plagued we aren’t doing the same for the women’s… work your miracles now!!!”
Another thought it resembled Kawhi Leonard’s injury in 2021. However, unlike JuJu and Rose, Kawhi’s initial reaction to the injury wasn’t as obvious. It seemed he had injured his knee but it did not appear to be anything serious initially.
The silver lining, if there can be one for an injury of this caliber, is that Watkins still has two more years of eligibility and will have plenty of time to recover. The presumptive first-overall pick next year should still be held in high regard twelve months from now.
Additionally, thanks to advances in modern medicine, major lower body injuries are no longer the career enders that they used to be. In fact, last year’s fourth overall pick, Cameron Brink, has been detailing her recovery with regular updates.
From Kevin Durant’s Achilles tear to Marina Mabrey’s ACL tear, players have continued to overcome bad injuries. Considering the quality of player Watkins has proven herself to be, there’s no reason to believe she can’t follow that same path and return to be better than ever before.
