SPOKANE, Wash. — The news of USC guard JuJu Watkins tearing her ACL made UConn stars Paige Buekers and Azzi Fudd “nauseous” because unfortunately they knew the feeling all too well.
Bueckers got injured ahead of the 2022-23 season, just months after the Huskies had made it to the 2022 NCAA Tournament championship game. Instead of helping her team get over the hump during her junior season, Bueckers was forced to watch from the bench.
“The first week was devastation, a sense of hurt and disappointment. A ‘why me?’ sort of mentality,” Bueckers said. “‘Why now?’ A lot of questions that you have that are going to go unanswered. But then your motivation, your strength your faith and peace kick in, ‘everything happens for a reason.’ And then surgery happens and every single day that passes by is a day closer of you getting to play basketball again.”
Fudd has faced multiple injuries through her career, but the worst one was when she tore her ACL in 2023. Like Bueckers, she said the first week was also filled with difficult feelings of shock and disbelief. However, she found a way to keep her mind in the right place.
JuJu Watkins injury: USC star’s season ends with torn ACL after contact in Women’s March Madness game
Jack Maloney
JuJu Watkins injury: USC star’s season ends with torn ACL after contact in Women’s March Madness game
“I have a bracelet that says purpose on it and I wore that,” she said. “I made sure every day I was doing rehab, or literally anything, I was doing it with purpose because I didn’t want to take any shortcuts and there be reason why a year comes and I can’t be back on the floor playing.
“… I know that JuJu is going to come back from this and attack her rehab how she has eve single day playing basketball. I was nauseous hearing the news for her. You don’t want to see anyone go through it, but she’s going to come back stronger.”
The timing adds an extra layer of mental difficulty for Watkins because her team was heavily relying on her this season and now the Trojans have to play rest of the tournament without her.
However, her teammates perhaps gave her a little peace of mind with how they finished the second round game against Mississippi State. Watkins went down during the first quarter and left the building to get an MRI. In her absence, Kiki Iriafen led five double-digit scorers while putting up one of the best performances of her career with 36 points and nine rebounds.
USC will try to continue advancing without Watkins, and the first full game without her will be against Kansas State on Friday in the Sweet 16. Although Watkins won’t be playing, Bueckers and Fudd are two of the many people in the basketball world cheering for her as she begins her recovery.
“For JuJu, your heart breaks for her,” Bueckers said. “Just the devastation, especially right now during the tournament not being able to be out there with your team during the most important part of the year. I know especially [Fudd and I] empathize for her. We’ve been there and we know how much it sucks.
“But you don’t get to be as good as JuJu if you don’t have great motor, a great work ethic. She’s going to attack this process just as she has attacked basketball. She’s great at basketball, she is going to be great at this recovery process. I’m disappointed for her but she’ll be back better than ever and this will be a little set back to the great story that she’ll have.”