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via Getty

via Getty

Who doesn’t remember JuJu Watkins’ magical night at the Stanford Maples Pavilion? The USC wonder kid single-handily carried the Trojans on her back and secured an important conference victory courtesy of her record-breaking 51 points. Roughly after three months, her monumental effort gets a very special acknowledgment. Recently, this prestigious college basketball program made an interesting revelation regarding the historic evening involving the monumental effort of JuJu Watkins.

The  Assistant Athletic Director for USC’s Women’s Basketball Operations Ryan Cohan had a delightful announcement for all the JuJu fans. A recent Snapchat video of the 6 ft 2 in guard features him with a basketball in hand saying, “This is JuJu’s gameball. 51 points scoring record at Stanford. They were so kind enough to give this to us after the game, so JuJu has it forever in her life. And she should.”

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On a sensational evening, the freshman unleashed herself and delivered a performance for the ages. Not only did she lead USC to a victory over Cameron Brink and Co. she also surpassed the school’s previous best score of 50 set by Cherie Nelson in a game against California on March 11, 1989. In addition to this, the dynamic No.12 overcame the best freshman numbers of Cheryl Miller (39 points) through this effort. Consequently, the Trojans were able to secure a 67-58 victory over the 2021 national champions.

Following this, the 2024 USBWA National Freshman of the Year spared some thought on receiving the souvenir.

JuJu Watkins takes a trip down memory lane

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Soon after receiving the ball from Cohan, JuJu was thrilled and wanted to share the experience with her fans. In another Snapchat video, she is showing the ball and saying, “This is the ball where I had 51 points. I can still feel the magic radiating from the ball, I can still feel the sweat. I can hear the crowd in the ball.” Although, she was seen saying all this in a humorous manner. But, the 18-year-old was making sure that her followers could get a recap of that tremendous Friday night.

Indeed, it was a defining moment for Watkins. Now, she has a worthy relic with herself which will keep reminding her of her exceptional record-breaking abilities. However, for her fans, Watkins is just getting started. They will be expecting her to tumble more records in the next few years at the college basketball level. Will she be able to match all those expectations? Only time will tell.