USC star reveals the biggest lesson she learned from JuJu Watkins

JuJu Watkins is arguably the biggest college basketball star right now after Paige Bueckers departed for the WNBA at the end of last season. The USC Trojans’ star guard carries high expectations, more so after taking over the Trojans and taking them to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. 

Watkins will be sidelined for the 2025-26 season, which will open the door for different players to give something extra to the team. During her two years in Los Angeles, the 6-foot-2 guard has grown a lot, and her growth has helped some of her teammates become better. 

Malia Samuels has been by her side during this period, watching Watkins deal with all the pressure and expectation that come with being one of the most exciting prospects in women’s basketball.

JuJu Watkins’ teammate explains the biggest lesson she learned from the guard 

During a recent conversation with Chloe Clark on the latter’s YouTube channel, Williams detailed how Watkins deals with the pressure that not many could take, especially at her age.

JuJu Watkins #12 of the USC Trojans

“Just the way that she handles like all the outside noise and all the pressure and still comes as her best self and um, keeps her composure every day. It’s amazing,” Samuels said. 

She added that when she’s in private with teammates, Watkins doesn’t hide her personality and acts like her normal self. 

“Like she’s one of us, like she’s joking around with us and you know, there’s people probably in her comments that are talking, people in her DMs that are talking crazy. So just to, just to see that she handles pressure so well and is able to show up as her best self is something that I really commend her for and something that I’ve learned from her,” Samuels explained.

The Trojans will miss her on the court, but Watkins can still make an impact from the sideline. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer before she can get back to what she does best.