The Times of Troy: JuJu Watkins was the star of an epic movie, but it was real life

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter. I’m Ryan Kartje, the Times’ USC beat writer, and I’ve been buzzing ever since Thursday’s crosstown showdown, one of the best basketball games I’ve seen since joining the beat. Thinking back, it plays in my mind like an epic sports movie. Slow motion, triumphant score and all.

A pouring rain was still falling when I first arrived, but a sea of fans clad in cardinal and gold nonetheless flooded the sidewalks outside of the arena. The parking structure next to Galen Center was already full an hour before game time. The traffic on Figueroa and any surrounding streets slowed to a painstaking crawl. This was an event.

Somehow, I managed to find a parking spot on 30th Street, a half-mile away, tucking my tiny Chevy Volt miraculously between two giant trucks, with barely any time left to spare before tip.

It was chaos. And so quintessentially L.A.

Center stage in the city, for those few hours at least, belonged to women’s basketball. And in its brightest spotlight was JuJu Watkins, the Trojans star whose brilliance had never been on such vivid and stunning display.

Inside, over 10,000 fans packed the arena to the rafters, humming with anticipation, many of them wearing their own No. 12 jerseys or Watkins regalia. Celebrities mingled courtside, as if this were Staples in its heyday or the Coliseum in the Carroll era. Here was Kevin Hart. Issa Rae. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Jayden Daniels, the NFL’s rookie of the year. Kelsey Plum, the Sparks’ new star. Vanessa and Natalia Bryant.

“It was just a few years ago that people said women’s basketball in L.A. can’t be big, can’t be covered, can’t be sold out,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

Now there were no such doubters, as the jumbotron struggled just to keep up with Galen’s special guests, all of whom had braved the rain and the gridlock in hopes of seeing something truly singular, something they’d never seen before.

Somehow, Watkins managed not only to meet those expectations Thursday, but transcend them, rising to the moment in a way that usually only makes sense in the movies. This was a true-to-life breakthrough on the biggest of stages, a 38-point, 11-rebound, eight-block, five-assist explosion that would stand alone statistically from any performance in the last two decades of basketball, men or women, college or pro. That it came in the midst of Watkins’ worst slump as a Trojan only made it all the sweeter.

She came out on fire from the field, ready to cast aside that slump in a matter of minutes. But her most impressive stretch, in my opinion, started in the third quarter, when UCLA had mounted a 10-0 run out of halftime to take a lead.

Watkins’ shooting had cooled a bit. Her teammates wouldn’t make a bucket in the second or third quarters. It was clear right then that Watkins couldn’t just shoot USC past UCLA, no matter how much starpower she packed.

USC’s Kennedy Smith drives to the basket on UCLA’s Janiah Barker in the fourth quarter.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

So USC called a timeout, refocused its efforts on UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and Watkins came alive on the defensive end, doubling Betts in the paint with such ferocity that the 6-7 center had no response. Watkins would block Betts five times from then on, giving her eight blocks for the game, a number that couldn’t really communicate what her effort on that end meant.

As a freshman, it was clear that Watkins relied a lot on her otherworldly talent. But this was another level, one we hadn’t yet seen before. This was a superstar talent unlocking a deeper understanding of who she is and the talent she has, then unleashing it right when her team needed it most.

“That’s what we needed to win,” Watkins said. “It’s not really a calculated thing. It’s just like a feel for the game. I kinda let my mind take over.”

Her talent has carried USC this far. But it’s those instincts that will make the most difference in March.

Calling for questions

Have a question for me about USC? I want to hear from you!

With football firmly in the offseason and basketball ramping up toward March, I’ll be putting together a Times of Troy mailbag in the coming weeks. Send your questions directly to me at [email protected] or on X @Ryan_Kartje. I’ll answer as many as I can in an upcoming newsletter. (The others, I’ll answer via email anyway!)

Extra points

—USC’s new general manager will report to Lincoln Riley — and to USC’s AD Jennifer Cohen. That’s a notable departure from how USC, or most other schools, used to handle the role and a sign of the times in college football. It’s also a reflection of how Cohen views the GM position at USC — and by extension the front office: separate of Riley and the on-field football staff. Think of it as more akin to an NFL front office, with the GM evaluated both alongside and separate of the head coach. Of course, Cohen wouldn’t hire Chad Bowden if he didn’t believe in Riley and his vision for USC football. She has a ton of belief in Bowden, too. “He really blew us away,” she said.

—The future of House of Victory, USC’s NIL collective, is uncertain with the House settlement on the horizon. I have a hard time believing that an enforcement entity, independent of the NCAA and formed by the power conferences, will be able to police NIL any more successfully than the NCAA did. But the House settlement aims to put an end to collectives and any NIL payments that aren’t true NIL deals. The courts will surely have something to say about that. Still, we don’t know what this means for House of Victory, USC’s primary collective. Could it be folded into the university in some different form? Could it continue to operate independently as a third-party marketing arm, still aiming to connect athletes with brands? Too much is still uncertain in college sports to know for sure.

—USC men’s basketball is now on the wrong side of the bubble. The Trojans were just barely hanging onto their hopes of an NCAA tournament bid when Minnesota came to town and dealt them a crushing blow. That it came in a game in which they led at one point by 13 only made it worse. Eric Musselman, USC’s coach, called the loss “monumental.” And while it doesn’t completely eliminate USC from the Dance, it does make the path to get there especially difficult. The Trojans still have five Q1 games on the schedule, but the margin for error in those games is razor thin. They’re also just one game ahead of the cut line for the Big Ten tournament, which only takes the conference’s top 15 teams. Something tells me Musselman will look back on this loss and the narrow loss at Northwestern with more than a tinge of regret.

—Jaylin Smith, Jonah Monheim and Woody Marks were invited to the NFL scouting combine. And I think all three could see their stocks rise over the course of the coming months. Smith impressed last season with his seamless transition to outside corner and will kill it in interviews. Monheim has experience at every spot on the line and the football IQ to stick around for a decade. And Marks may be the most underrated of the trio — I believe he’s capable of stepping as a three-down back in the NFL right away. I’d expect all three to go somewhere in the middle rounds of the draft.

In case you missed it

USC powerless against late Minnesota surge as its NCAA tourney hopes take a hit

Lisa Leslie says Angel Reese is the 2.0 version of her, but ‘we’re gonna fix that’ layup shot

Q&A: USC AD Jennifer Cohen confident investments in football will help Lincoln Riley win

JuJu Watkins erases slump in sensational fashion as No. 6 USC defeats No. 1 UCLA

With JuJu Watkins slumping, other Trojans find their fit ahead of USC-UCLA showdown

Illness hits USC men, but Desmond Claude’s return helps them defeat Penn State

What I’m Watching This Week

Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in “The White Lotus.”

(Fabio Lovino / HBO)

One of TV’s best shows returned to Max on Sunday, and if you haven’t devoured the first two seasons of “The White Lotus” already, well … I don’t know what to tell you. The luxury hotel anthology series takes place in Thailand this season, with a murderer’s row of acting talent at the ready. I personally will watch any piece of content that involves Walton Goggins. The fact that he’s now starring in a show that was already outstanding before him gives me sky high hopes for this season.