USC superstar Juju Watkins will miss the rest of March Madness after suffering a devastating ACL injury.
The 2025 NCAA women’s basketball tournament landscape changed dramatically on Monday night when No. 1 seed USC lost its star guard to a season-ending knee injury during its emotional win against No. 9 Mississippi State.
The prospect of a showdown between two of college basketball’s biggest stars, Watkins and UConn guard Paige Bueckers, was easily a main talking point heading into the tournament.
Now that Watkins is out, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made no secret of how easy things have gotten for UConn.
He addressed the unfortunate circumstance on his show FIRST TAKE.
During Tuesday’s episode of First Take, ESPN moderator Molly Qerim asked WNBA star Napheesa Collier if she’s feeling good about UConn’s chances this March.
Before she could say anything, Smith chimed in with a crazy comment about JuJu Watkins.
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“You should be feeling good now,” Smith said. “JuJu got hurt.”
stephen a is weird as fuck for that! pic.twitter.com/HkqyoR46f4
— gi | let the madness begin 🏀 (@pbueckers5) March 25, 2025
Fans were disgusted:
“I find myself asking every year why this man still has the platform he does,” one fan said.
i find myself asking every year why this man still has the platform he does
— abby (@paigeblockers) March 25, 2025
“gross as fuck, he shouldn’t have a job,” a second fan stated.
gross as fuck, he shouldn’t have a job
— ria✧˖° (@love_wbb) March 25, 2025
“I want him deplatformed,” a third fan said of his comment on JuJu Watkins.
i want him deplatformed https://t.co/Nmn2asUZ4t
— mac. (@nmacheaux) March 25, 2025
“He’s such a f–king weirdo. LeBron should’ve beat his ass right there on the spot 😭,” a fourth fan added.
He’s such a fucking weirdo. LeBron should’ve beat his ass right there on the spot 😭 https://t.co/H27MbdAxcp
— $ky (@sshields__) March 25, 2025
“athlete’s gotta stop going on this show. Dude has consistently shown he’s a terrible human,” a final fan said.
athlete’s gotta stop going on this show. dude has consistently shown he’s a terrible human. https://t.co/BsUxh8E3s8
— chet holmgren hate account (@reidenxlake) March 26, 2025
JuJu Watkins Has A Long Road To Recovery
USC women’s basketball star JuJu Watkins was left screaming in agony after appearing to suffer a serious right knee injury in the first quarter of the Trojans’ Second Round game.
Watkins suffered a torn ACL during her team’s 96-59 win over No. 9 seed Mississippi State in the second round of the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament.
Watkins is likely to be out for nine months, which means she will miss a large part of the 2025 season.
