Fans Furious With USC Coach After JuJu Watkins’ Season-Ending Injury

USC women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb isn’t in unfamiliar territory.

Two days before the Trojans’ 96-59 win over Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Gottlieb was under fire for a controversial decision she made regarding star guard JuJu Watkins.

Gottlieb put Watkins back in in the fourth quarter of USC’s 71-25 win over UNC Greensboro in the NCAA Tournament opener despite the Trojans holding a 40-point lead and Watkins nursing an injured ankle that she tweaked during the third quarter.

That decision to ride her star player despite her banged up seemingly came back to haunt Gottlieb in the next game when Watkins tore her ACL against Mississippi State on Monday.

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) and head coach Lindsay Gottlieb during the second half against the UCLA Bruins at Galen Center.Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

“I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor and crying,” Gottlieb said. “I’m trying, obviously, my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”

Though many believe Watkins’ injury was simply a freak accident, there’s a strong contingency of fans on X who believe Gottlieb is to blame for the star sophomore’s injury because she ignored the cumulative toll the season took on Watkins’ body.

“I said the same [expletive] thing, she gonna overcompensate on a bad ankle and end up seriously injuring herself and look what happened. This [expletive] is pure malpractice,” one fan agreed.

“Injuries come from early warning signs that are not heeded and too much stress on the body and not enough rest and recovery. It’s surprising the lack of understanding by coaches, staff and trainers the importance of rest and recovery, stretching, massage and nutrition/hydration,” one user pointed out.

“She was heavily favoring that ankle and it likely contributed to the knee going on the other leg. There were very likely many hyper extensions, close calls and overall fatigue that contributed. Injuries are unfortunate,” remarked another user.

“Lots of injuries are an effect of compensating for an original injury. She rolled her ankle last game & could have changed her stride to deal with it which caused a chain reaction to the knee buckling & tearing her ACL. That’s why it was crazy they brought her back in last game,” noted one fan.

“All these comments saying ‘opposite leg’ have no idea how a body works. When your opposite leg is injured, anybody naturally put more pressure and stress on the other side. If the body isn’t used to that, it ends up making things way worse,” another fan proclaimed.

Without Watkins, who led the team with 23.9 points per game and contributed 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game, USC will have to rely on forward Kiki Irafen, who went off for a season-high 36 points in the Trojans’ win over Mississippi State on Monday.

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Fans Furious With USC Coach After JuJu Watkins’ Season-Ending Injury

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