JuJu Watkins’ sophomore season is over. USC’s star guard suffered a season-ending ACL tear in an NCAA Tournament second-round victory over Mississippi State on Monday night. The injury will require surgery and Watkins will “then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter,” the team said in a statement.
No. 1 seed USC will move forward in the tournament without Watkins, taking on No. 5 seed Kansas State in the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Wash., on Saturday.
Watkins was one of the tournament’s brightest stars, ranking second nationally with 24.6 points per game and the focal point of every opponent’s scouting report. Despite having two more seasons of college eligibility remaining, fans were already speculating about her WNBA future.
Her injury follows a line of other top tournament stars — UConn’s Paige Bueckers and teammate Azzi Fudd, and Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles — who have suffered ACL tears in college.
The hoops community sending love to Juju Watkins after her injury 💜 pic.twitter.com/Sm2iOFhX57
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) March 25, 2025
Watkins’ absence is sure to loom over the remainder of the NCAA Tournament as fans wonder what comes next for her.
What is an ACL tear?
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that connect the femur (thighbone) to the tibia (shinbone). The ACL runs diagonally in the middle of the knee and prevents the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur. There are three levels of ACL injuries: Grade 1, 2 and 3. Most ACL sprains are Grade 3, which is a complete tear of the ligament. The exact nature of Watkins’ injury is unknown.
What is the timeline for recovery?
As the USC statement indicated, Watkins will require surgery and then rehab. In recent history, women’s basketball players have needed about a year to recover from a torn ACL. For example, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, LSU’s Sa’Myah Smith and Ole Miss’ KK Deans each tore an ACL in November 2023 yet returned to game action by November 2024.
The timeline can be shorter. Texas’ Rori Harmon was back on the court in about 10 months. It can also be longer. Charlisse Leger-Walker, who experienced a torn ACL in January 2024 while playing for Washington State was expected to be ready to play in November, but a setback led to her redshirting the entire 2024-25 season. She cleared for practice at UCLA only near the end of the regular season.
Will Watkins miss the 2026 NCAA Tournament?
The timing of Watkins’ injury not only disqualifies her from this postseason but also complicates her availability for the 2025-26 season. Within the usual recovery timeline, Watkins could potentially return near the end of the next regular season. However, that would require considerations about the benefit of returning to the most tightly-contested games of the year and how that would impact her teammates who would have spent a full season learning to play without her.
Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles dealt with a similar injury timeline to Watkins’. Miles tore her ACL on Feb. 26, 2023, in the final game of the Fighting Irish’s regular season. She missed the 2023 ACC and NCAA tournaments as well as the entire 2023-24 campaign as she recovered.
Miles’ situation isn’t a baseline, but rather a comparison point for how another high-profile program handled an injury to its star guard.
Can Watkins make a full recovery?
Yes. ACL tears may be season-ending, but they are not career-ending. For better or worse, the sport of women’s basketball is filled with players who have returned from torn ACLs and played some of their best basketball after those injuries.
Paige Bueckers had the best year of her Huskies tenure in 2023-24 after sitting out for a season. Candace Parker had a torn ACL in high school and went on to have a Hall of Fame-worthy pro career. Tamika Catchings and Sue Bird both dealt with ACL injuries in college and are among the all-time WNBA greats. Miles has the Irish in the Sweet 16 and is projected to be the second pick in the WNBA Draft.
Watkins was a generational college player before her injury, and she can still be a generational collegian and pro once she comes back. Even if she misses her junior year, she will still have at least one more season at USC to compete in the NCAA Tournament, and potentially more if she medically redshirts next season. This is a setback, but not the end of the road.
(Photo of JuJu Watkins: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
