Stephen A. Smith makes his feelings known on the impact of JuJu Watkins injury on USC's March Madness chances

USC star JuJu Watkins has been at the forefront of the No. 1-seeded Trojans' push for glory at the 2025 NCAA Tournament. On Monday evening, during USC's 96-59 victory over the No. 9-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs, Watkins injured her ACL as she drove to the basket just five minutes into the encounter.

After the game, the Trojans revealed that she would have surgery to repair her ACL and would be sidelined for a long time, ruling her out of the remainder of the Big Dance.

During Tuesday's segment of "First Take," ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith was solemn in his assessment of the popular Watkins' injury.

"I'm definitely heartbroken for her, I think she's the face of women's college basketball this year," Smith said. "I was really looking forward to her going on a collision course against UConn. She had 29 points and 10 rebounds last year when she played against them.

"She's a phenomenal player. My prayers are up for her, and hopefully, she'll make a full recovery but it's a devastating loss for college basketball."

Smith further detailed the impact of competitive JuJu Watkins' injury on the Trojans' hopes of winning a national championship.

"She's a show-stopper, she's box office, I love watching her play. I had aspirations for USC to win the national championship because I thought she had the potential to carry them there. I had them in the national championship game against South Carolina. I don't see that happening. Let me be very clear about that, I don't think they're doing that without her."

USC coach shaken by JuJu Watkins injury

Despite JuJu Watkins getting injured barely five minutes into the USC Trojans' game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they still proceeded to the Sweet 16. During her postgame news conference, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb detailed the difficulty of losing her star player so early in the game.

"I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying," Gottlieb said. "This is a human game, so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it's a lot."

After Watkins' injury, senior forward Kiki Iriafen put on a clinic and registered 36 points, nine rebounds and two assists to ensure that the Trojans reached the Sweet 16 handily even without their star player.

By her own admission, Iriafen has taken a back seat to JuJu Watkins since she transferred from the Stanford Cardinal last year. But with her performance against the Bulldogs and Watkins' injury, the onus to lead the Trojans to a national title will fall on her shoulders.