If anyone thought JuJu Watkins didn’t make enough noise as a freshman, well, they had another thing coming. Not only did the 18-year-old take the college basketball world by storm by breaking multiple USC records, but also led the program to its first Elite Eight appearance in almost 30 years. And perhaps that is the reason why she was deemed deserving of the ESPYS Best Breakthrough Athlete for 2024. Following this, shoutouts and acclamations were in order that included some very eminent personalities.

The USBWA National Freshman of the Year shared a post recently describing this special moment. The upload features a picture of her holding the honor in her hands captioned, “so blessed! thank you @espn 🙏🏽🙏🏽 #espys2024”. Consequently, it didn’t take long to gain traction and evoke some loving reactions from all around. Her former NCAA peer and WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark was among the first to extend her acknowledgment.

She celebrated Watkins’ accomplishment by liking the post. Both these athletes were the cream of the crop in the recently concluded NCAA tournament. In addition to this, one of her well-wishers and the daughter of legendary Kobe Bryant Natalia Bryant was also thrilled by this development. She conveyed her felicitation with a 💫💫💫 emoji while tagging the 6 ft 2 in guard.

Meanwhile, former Stanford forward and JuJu’s teammate for the next season, Kiki Iriafen couldn’t hide her delight either. She was quick enough to paste a comment which read, “That girl!!!💁🏾‍♀️”, which received a response from Watkins in the form of “all u 😘”.

Watkins made an emphatic statement in her debut year of college basketball. Seemingly, she broke Cheryl Miller’s 38-year-old single-season scoring record for USC. This is after she delivered a 51-point game against Stanford and became the first freshman in 13 years to register 50 points in a single contest. Another noteworthy moment was her surpassing Tina Hutchinson’s tally of 898 with 920 points. This number is the most by an NCAA Division I freshman in a single season. Also, garnering 32 points on a debut is also the highest by a freshman in the program’s history.

Anyhow, the greetings kept on coming for the talented USC No.12. One of them arriving from someone who had a key role to play in honing her skills.

USC HC Lindsay Gottlieb gushes over JuJu Watkins

Soon after the official announcement, the mentor for JuJu Watkins in her freshman term, Lindsay Gottlieb, expressed her pride. However, her emotions weren’t only limited to the bestowed honor. She shared a picture of Watkins choosing to hit the gym instead of prolonging her celebrations.

Moreover, the Instagram story is captioned, “ESPY winner last night. Back to work this morning for Filthy Friday. @jujballin ALWAYS keeps the main thing the main thing. Different”. 

A tremendous conclusion for JuJu Watkins after a magical start to her basketball career. Not only the fans, but her near and dear ones are thrilled about what she can produce with a ball in hand. All of them will be hopeful she can take it to the next level in her subsequent season.

Stay tuned for more such updates. To follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.