“Beautiful, stylish, thoughtful”: Rich Paul lists best attributes of USC‘s JuJu Watkins, says she could become “most influential basketball player”

JuJu Watkins, a 6-foot-2 guard for the USC Trojans, has made quite an impact during her freshman year last season. Sports agent Rich Paul has confidence in Watkins becoming the new face of basketball.

Paul has admired her talent since her time at Sierra Canyon High School. His agency, Klutch Sports Group, signed its first female high school athlete, Watkins, to an NIL deal in February 2022.

On the "Gil's Arena" podcast, Paul spoke with hosts Gilbert Arenas and Josiah Johnson about various basketball topics, including the NBA draft and Watkins being the future of the game.

"The foundation of JuJu Watkins as a basketball player times the foundation of JuJu Watkins as a person," Paul said. "And when you put those two things together, you have to me what could be the most influential basketball player for the future.

"Beautiful, stylish, personality wise thoughtful, gives back to her community. She was doing that as a sophomore in high school... Hardworking"

[Time Stamp - 41:29]

Watkins has already accomplished several notable achievements. After completing high school at Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, she was identified as the top prospect in the 2023 class by ESPN.

In her debut college basketball season, the Los Angeles native won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award and was also named to the All-Pac-12 Team, the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team in 2024.

Apart from the game, Watkins actively contributes to her community, a devotion she started in her sophomore year of high school.

Can JuJu Watkins break Caitlin Clark's NCAA scoring record?

USC rising star JuJu Watkins has all the potential in the world to surpass Caitlin Clark's NCAA Division I women's all-time scoring record of 3,951 points.

Watkins set a new freshman scoring record in 2023-24, surpassing Tina Hutchinson's previous record from 1983-84. Her consistent scoring and effective play position make her a strong contender to break Clark's record next.

Watkins scored 920 points for the Trojans and had a scoring average of 27.1 PPG compared to 26.6 PPG of Clark's in her freshman year.

Clark's average points per game throughout her college career were 28.42, achieved over four years. For JuJu Watkins to surpass Clark's scoring record, she must score an additional 3031 points in her remaining college career.

Scoring an average of 27.1 points per game is certainly impressive, but overtaking Clark will demand more than just that. Watkins would need to maintain an average of at least 30 points per season to match Clark's achievement, assuming she stays in college for four years as Clark did.