HC Lindsay Gottlieb reacts as JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen get “national recognition”

JuJu Watkins and Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen have been named in the prestigious Wooden Award's 25-player watchlist on Tuesday. The annual Wooden Award is given to the most outstanding basketball player of the season by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, named after UCLAs legendary coach John R. Wooden.

The USC Trojans shared the news with its followers through an Instagram post while congratulating Watkins and Iriafen.

"National recognition for these two! Kiki Iriafen & JuJu Watkins have been named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List 👏," the post's caption read.

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb spread the news with a story reaction. She posted a victory hand emoji while reposting the Trojans' update on her IG.

Lindsay Gottlieb reacts to JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen's achievement

Watkins and Kiki Iriafen will be competing with top players in the nation, like UConn's Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, LSU's Flau'jae Johnson, TCU's Hailey Van Lith, and South Carolina's Te-Hina Paopao for the award.

In November 2024, the duo was named to the Wade Trophy's watchlist, the oldest national Player of the Year award in women's basketball.

JuJu Watkins is unimpressed despite a double-double in a 50-point win

Despite a 23-point and 14-rebound double-double in a 50-point win over Rutgers, JuJu Watkins was unimpressed with her performance on Sunday.

Watkins shed light on her efficiency in the post-game conference after handing Rutgers its worst home loss in history. She said she would work on fixing her touch and finding the best shots in the coming games.

"I think my efficiency wasn’t the best tonight," she said (7:46). "So just continuing to work on that and taking the best shots. It was an off night for me tonight, regardless of the outcome, but just continue to stay locked in with my team and knock down shots that I usually do."

JuJu Watkins played a team-high 30 minutes as USC led by more than 20 points in the last 25 minutes of the contest. However, she only shot 34.8% by converting eight buckets on 23 attempts. It was Watkins' worst shooting display of the season.