Dawn Staley is making a lot of headlines lately. And no, it’s not just because the 54-year-old was adjudged the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the recently concluded 2024 edition of the ESPYS. Seemingly, it’s her recent comments on the Rookie Of The Year debate in which she favors Angel Reese more than Caitlin Clark has managed to raise a lot of eyebrows. However, that was not all as she had some interesting predictions waiting in line.

Soon after the departure of Caitlin Clark from the college basketball circuit, the question that arises in most minds is who has the credentials to take her place. And that query was troubling the TMZ Sports reporter who caught Staley at the airport. Subsequently, he went on to clear it out with the 4× WBCA National Coach of the Year. To which Staley responded on TMZSports, “There are some stars now. I got to coach one, MiLaysia Fulwiley. You got JuJu, JuJu’s balling. You got Hannah Hidalgo at Notre Dame. You have a lot of household names, young names that our game can sustain itself.” 

Among the names pointed out by Staley, JuJu Watkins is clearly emerging as the front-runner. Not only was the 18-year-old the second-best performer after Caitlin Clark in just her freshman season, but she also broke many USC and college basketball records along the way. This included Cheryl Miller’s 38-year-old single-season scoring record for the Trojans. Another of Miller’s noteworthy accomplishments was the three consecutive 30-point games which again the 6 ft 2 in guard was able to tie.

Moreover, her 920 points at the end of the season became the most by an NCAA Division I freshman. Apparently, it overcame Tina Hutchinson’s tally of 898 set in 1983-84. As a result, she grabbed the 2024 USBWA National Freshman of the Year honor and was recently chosen as ESPYS Best Breakthrough Athlete.

Anyhow, it seems that JuJu Watkins isn’t very pleased when her name is mentioned in the same conversation as Caitlin Clark.

What are Watkins’ views on her comparison with Caitlin Clark?

After her monumental 51-point game against Stanford earlier this year, Watkins joined the TV interview team near the scorer’s table. Following this, the announcers started drawing similarities between her and the former Iowa phenom.

Here she didn’t take much time in shutting down this narrative. Watkins went on and said, “Ah nah, don’t do that. Don’t do that. Much respect there.” These brief words were loud and clear as the interviewers didn’t entertain the thought afterward.

Hardly anyone would argue that both Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins possess immense skill and talent. While Clark is making her potential to do all the talking as a pro, Watkins is still learning the ropes at the college basketball level. It will be interesting to see if fate intertwines their paths once again.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And 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.