They danced in the rain on Figueroa Avenue, a throng of trumpets gathering to serenade the brightest star on campus in a glorious return.
Sheer joy erupted this Sunday night, through storm and wind and smiles breaking free from ponchos, USC’s Spirit of Troy student band braving the elements to surprise the women’s basketball team as soon as it got off the bus from a trip up north. Fresh off conquering Stanford and Cal, teammates formed a sort of impromptu-dance circle around freshman JuJu Watkins, swaying to the instrumental of DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win.” Watkins, somehow, ended up with a mock Trojan sword in her right hand; she hit a little jig, senior McKenzie Forbes grabbing her hand and combusting in laughter.
They are the best show on campus these days, the greatest source of pride around USC, a once-dormant program rising to national contention as Watkins has single-handedly accelerated a program rebuild set in motion by third-year coach Lindsay Gottlieb. The freshman is a magnetic blend of natural charisma and prodigal skill, nearly breaking basketball Twitter with a record-breaking 51-piece against Stanford; the world has woken up to Watkins, and her rising tide is soaring all boats. A few days ago, Gottlieb gathered her team for a preview of Watkins’ SLAM Magazine cover, teammates trading awestruck grins as Watkins bowed her head in a mixture of embarrassment and humility.
“I think it’s important – like, how many faces of the game at this age have been young African-American women?” Gottlieb said in early January. “Like, she should have her own Nike shoe, at some point. She should be the center of a campaign.”
Behind Watkins, Forbes and junior big Rayah Marshall, they are the trailblazers. They are the upstarts. They are the hunters, dancing in the rain.
Check that. They were.
There is no way to operate under the radar anymore, when Watkins physically broke the radar after vanquishing then-No. 4 Stanford. Teams in the…
Read the full article here
