University of Southern California basketball star JuJu Watkins will be out for the remainder of the season after suffering from an injury at a game on Monday night. The 19-year-old tore her ACL on her right knee during a game that opposed the Trojans to Mississippi State.
How did JuJu Watkins get injured?
Watkins was heading toward the basket when she was fouled and fell on the floor at the 4:43 mark, according to NPR. She grabbed her knee and stayed down for over a minute. Watkins was then carried off the court before the team announced she was receiving medical evaluation and would not return to the game.
“I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said, according to ESPN. “This is a human game and so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”
The crowd started booing in support of Watkins after she left the court.
“They’re going to stand behind their home team. They’re going to go hard for JuJu,” Mississippi State guard Jerkaila Jordan told ESPN. “I couldn’t do nothing but respect them.”
“You can’t tell me that the energy of the crowd and how angry they were with the other team and how much they were for our team [isn’t] so much about what JuJu has given to this arena, to this program, to this city,” Gottlieb added.
Kiki Iriafen stepped in and scored 36 points.
”We didn’t want to let her down,” she told ESPN. “We just want to keep dancing, so whatever it takes is what I wanted to do. I think it just shows our toughness.”
USC head coach showed support for JuJu Watkins after her injury
“We know that we’ve got no punks in our locker room, that we have a team that’s going to step up,” Gottlieb said about the team, per ESPN. “This team rallied, they rallied for [Watkins], they rallied for each other.”
She also noted Watkins’s influence that goes beyond her accolades in basketball.
“Obviously just heartbroken if there’s a serious injury for JuJu, but at the same time, I hope she can at some point see just the significance that she has here that goes so far beyond just her talent and abilities,” she said. “I mean that’s really what is generational about it, the way she’s galvanized everyone.”
What’s next for JuJu Watkins?
The basketball player will undergo surgery and rehabilitation, the team announced in a statement. She will not be playing in the remainder of the season. After their 96-59 win, USC will play against Kansas State on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
