LeBron James' agent Rich Paul congratulates USC star JuJu Watkins on being honored as the Best Breakthrough Athlete at the 2024 ESPY Awards

USC Trojans women's basketball star JuJu Watkins turned heads during her freshman campaign in 2023. Hailing as a five-star recruit from Sierra Canyon High School, Watkins averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for the 2023-24 season. The Trojans emerged as the Pac-12 tournament champions and made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Given her valuable contribution to USC in her freshman year, JuJu Watkins was honored as the Best Breakthrough Athlete during the 2024 ESPY Awards. Amid all the cheers and applause for this achievement, LeBron James' agent and CEO of Klutch Sports Rich Paul also took to social media to congratulate the young hooper.

Watkins signed with Klutch Sports back in 2022 when she was still in high school, becoming the first female HS athlete under Klutch Sports' brand banner. In a recent Instagram story, Paul shared a post created by his agency for the USC star's ESPY achievement. He accompanied the post with the caption:

"Congrats @jujubballin !!"

Credits: Rich Paul's Instagram

After being honored as the Best Breakthrough Athlete, Watkins went on stage to express her gratitude for the opportunity at such an early stage of her collegiate career.

"This is crazy. I want to thank all the great, powerful women who came before me that made this possible," Watkins said.

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JuJu Watkins is thrilled with the spotlight on women's basketball

During an appearance on "NBA Unplugged with Kevin Hart," the 2024 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year talked about the growing popularity of women's basketball. She stated that this attention was 'well-deserved' and that she is looking forward to future opportunities.

"It's definitely so exciting. I mean, just see the crowds. We're getting the supports, the media attention, it just inspires me to keep working harder, and the attention is very well deserved. So many great players in the W and in college right now on the women's side, and we're all just killing it honestly. So I'm excited to see how well my peers and I do." (1:30)

It will be interesting to see if JuJu Watkins can help the Trojans to dethrone Dawn Staley's South Carolina as the national champions in the upcoming season.