For the first time in the last few years, college basketball doesn’t have just one face. The talent pool is vast. While it has been like that for a while, a few players still hold immense star power and influence. The best examples of this have been JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers. With a phenomenal season, they are leading the NPOY race. However, with the USC star’s heartbreaking injury the other night, there has been a definite paradigm shift.

Is it something new? Not really! Remember Paige Bueckers’ rookie year in 2021? The UConn Huskies star took the NCAA by storm as a freshman! She was an absolute sniper from three and put up impressive averages of 20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals a game. If you see, Paige was the one turning heads with her consistent dominance, arguably an even bigger sensation than Caitlin Clark. Whether it was due to her stellar play or something else, the narrative over the years has shifted entirely toward Clark.

The Huskies HC Geno Auriemma did not sugarcoat his words when addressing this shift last year. “People weren’t even mentioning Caitlin Clark when Paige was a freshman,” Auriemma said. “It was all Paige, Paige, Paige. Now it’s all Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin.” So, what exactly caused this sudden shift? Renowned sportscaster Dan Patrick might just have the answer.

On The Dan Patrick Show, he discussed how JuJu Watkins’ brutal ACL tear, and also how some injuries affect entire sports. He brought up Tom Brady’s knee injury in 2008 and then segued to someone more familiar to NCAA fans—Bueckers. “If you look at the chain of command, Paige Bueckers was the National Player of the Year in high school. Caitlin Clark was in that same class, but this was Paige Bueckers as the National Player of the Year as a freshman.”

Patrick’s words clearly showcased just how dominant the UConn star was in her freshman year. The Huskies star made history by winning all four NPOY awards she was eligible for, and then some!

However, a pickup game cost her an entire season. Bueckers tore her ACL in 2022 and had to take a redshirt year. “Then, that paved the way for Caitlin Clark to take the baton, and for the next three years, she was the face of college basketball.” Even though Caitlin Clark is an absolute superstar and incredibly good at what she does, it’s pretty evident that Bueckers’ injury provided her a platform to showcase her talents.

Now, Bueckers is just about to leave for the WNBA draft, but Watkins?

JuJu Watkins was beginning to blossom into the face of college basketball this year. She has another two years before she can think about going pro. The USC star was there in every commercial, and every ad campaign imaginable, and her performance backed up her opportunities. But this injury might have set her back. However, according to Dan Patrick, the Trojans guard has the potential to become something greater than anyone is expecting!

Top Comment by John B

Bogus bogus bogus. Find a real reason Paige got injured without dragging someone else into it. She obviously wanted a...more

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“Better than Caitlin Clark,”: Dan Patrick’s motivational call to JuJu Watkins

There’s no doubt about how good a ball player JuJu Watkins is. She’s so amazing that as soon as she got injured, analysts stopped placing USC anywhere near the championship game. However, an ACL tear is not easy to recover from, with experts placing her return to sport as far away as 9-12 months! Luckily, a full recovery is quite common for female athletes.

Besides, Watkins has been absolutely phenomenal this season. The USC guard has averaged nearly 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. Not to mention the brilliant run that she has been on for the last few games. But Dan Patrick is expecting a lot more from the six-foot-two star.

On his show, Dan Patrick gave a rather impressive comparison to Watkins. “I said this earlier this season, she could turn out to be better than Caitlin Clark.” Well, this shows his tremendous faith in the Trojans’ star.

Watkins has been a consistent performer, but CC is one of the best college players of all time. To say that she can surpass Clark? That’s a huge compliment. “As far as a basketball player, not the phenomena, but as a basketball player? She could turn out to be better than her.” He added, clarifying that the ‘Caitlin Clark effect’ will forever remain unmatched.

His predictions aren’t unfounded either, as Watkins surpassed CC’s two-season scoring record this year. Even though she might be slowed down a little this coming year because of her injury, there’s no doubt that JuJu Watkins has superstar potential! It will be interesting to see how the USC guard will recover from such an unfortunate injury, and whether she’ll end up surpassing one of the greatest college players of all time.