LOS ANGELES — One of the more random assortments of people you’ve ever heard of shared the same room on Monday night.
They gathered inside the locker room of the USC women’s basketball team after the Trojans played Arizona, actor Will Ferrell and rapper Fabolous and WNBA Hall of Famer Tina Thompson, and there was almost no hypothetical situation that could be imagined in which these people would ever cross immediate paths. Except for one, the reality of the situation: they were here to watch JuJu Watkins, just as Chris Brown and Jason Sudeikis and other A-to-Z-listers have pulled up to the Galen Center this winter for a glimpse of the next big thing.
And as head coach Lindsay Gottlieb told it, in perhaps imperfect detail – after USC’s 81-64 victory over Arizona on Monday, USC alumnus Ferrell came up to Gottlieb, telling her about a text conversation he’d had with fellow funnyman Sudeikis.
Have you heard about JuJu? Sudeikis texted.
“He’s like, ‘Of course I have,’” Gottlieb recalled Ferrell telling her. “(Sudeikis) is like, ‘I’m going tonight.’ (Ferrell’s) like, ‘I’m going Monday!’”
“I’m like, ‘They’re texting about JuJu?’” Gottlieb continued. “‘What’s going on?’”
Indeed, the level of excitement around the program is something never lost on her, Gottlieb said – and only growing with each coming week, USC on a four-game winning streak as Watkins continues a historic run. Through 22 games, USC’s winning percentage (at 18-4) is its best since 1993-94, when former legend Cheryl Miller coached the Trojans to an Elite Eight run in the NCAA tournament; Miller has been back loud and proud on the sidelines for this USC team, jokingly cuddling Ferrell on the JumboTron at the Arizona game and embracing senior Kayla Padilla after the win.
The attention is a gift, to a blooming program stepping back into the national spotlight for the first time in decades. It’s also a curse, to Watkins, who as an…
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