Basketball fans were ready for the madness of March but weren’t expecting what would follow in the women’s scene. USC star JuJu Watkins suffered a torn ACL in their second-round matchup against Mississippi State. She will be out for the remainder of the season, with many speculating when she will return to the basketball court. The bright side is that Paige Bueckers, another superstar in college basketball, suffered the same injury and was able to return at a high level.
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Bueckers tore her ACL on August 1, 2022. This was before the start of her junior season, during a pickup game. The unfortunate injury sidelined the emerging star for the entirety of the 2022-23 season.
She admitted she knew she was in trouble when it happened. She said, “I knew it was bad. I felt a pop. I’m not really sure if I heard it, but I felt it for sure. I knew something was wrong.”
Similarly to Watkins, fans were in dismay regarding the UConn star’s injury. After all, Bueckers was on pace for a historic collegiate career, becoming the first freshman to win the Associated Press Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year award in 2021. The injury came as a shock, and something she didn’t want to believe at first.
Bueckers said, “When they posted it and the texts came through, all the posts came through, when I saw that, then it really became real life. Everybody knows about it. It really happened. I had to own it.”
UConn didn’t rush Bueckers back to the court, as she was out 369 days before being fully cleared to return to action. She didn’t show many signs of rust. She tied for the lead in the Big East in games played at 39, while having a career season.
Bueckers averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on 53% shooting from the field. Her ability to seamlessly dominate the competition following what is typically a career-altering injury was otherworldly.
The 6-foot guard’s journey to recovery is an example showing Watkins’ injury doesn’t mean it’s the end of her career. She also isn’t the only women’s basketball star to suffer a torn ACL. One of the biggest names in the sport, Cameron Brink, suffered a torn ACL during her rookie season with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Brinks only played 15 games before ultimately sitting out the rest of the season to recover from the knee injury. The former Stanford star remains positive regarding the situation. She recently spoke up about the recovery process.
“This is the hardest part for me because I’m just finally starting to do the jumping, the running, the cutting,” Brinks said on her podcast with Sydel Curry-Lee. It will be a grueling process for Watkins to return to the level she showcased in her first season. However, it is most certainly possible.
USC and basketball fans should prepare themselves for an extended period without Watkins on the court. Bueckers missed just over a year of play, while Brinks is currently in her eighth month of rehab. It may be quite some time until Watkins is back on the court for the Trojans, but hopefully, she’ll return to the court as good as she was before the injury.
