Wooden Award winner JuJu Watkins gets fired up as Kiki Iriafen, USC teammate secure WNBA future on 2025 Draft night

USC Trojans star JuJu Watkins expressed her happiness after her teammates, Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall, were drafted into the WNBA. Iriafen was selected at No.4 by the Washington Mystics on draft night, which took place at The Shed in New York on Monday.

Following the news, Watkins, who is currently out with an ACL injury, shared an Instagram story to congratulate her now ex-USC teammate.

JuJu Watkins reacts to Kiki Iriafen's draft selection (Image by Instagram/@jujubballin)

"Let’s go so proud of you Kiks in her first post," Watkins wrote on the story.

In another post, the 6-foot-2 said also congratulated another teammate, Marshall, who was drafted at No. 25 by the Connecticut Sun.

JuJu Watkins reacts to Rayah Marshall's draft selection (Image by Instagram/@jujubballin)

"Connecticut got a dawggg!!!" Watkins wrote.

Watkins and Iriafen both spent this season at USC after the former transferred from Stanford last year. The two helped the Trojans finish at No. 1 in the Big Ten Conference before going on to beat Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament.

However, the Trojans were knocked out in the Elite Eight of the NCAA by eventual champions, the UConn Huskies. Things could have been different, though, if Watkins had not picked up an ACL injury in the second round against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Iriafen did play the game, though, dropping ten points, one assist and six rebounds in 40 minutes of game time. The Los Angeles native did have a good year at USC with an average of 18.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists across 35 games.

Iriafen will now hope to build on that momentum as she enters the WNBA world with the Washington Mystics.

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Looking at JuJu Watkins’ college eligibility as she recovers from injury

While JuJu Watkins would also like to be drafted, the 6-foot-2 still has a long way to go before she gets into the WNBA. She already has the talent to play in the top women’s basketball league in the World after winning the Wooden Award for the best player in the league this season.

However, she is still two years away from eligibility as she is only in her sophomore year in college.

WNBA rule states that a player can only be drafted when they turn 22 in the year they are eligible for draft or four years after they graduate from high school. Given that Watkins is still 19 and has only spent two years in college, the 6-foot-2 guard will only be eligible for draft selection in 2027.

But that is not even a given because Watkins could use a redshirt for next season to recover from her ACL injury. If that’s the case, then Watkins might have to wait until 2028 before she enters the WNBA draft, similar to Paige Bueckers' path to the WNBA.

Like Watkins, Bueckers also suffered a serious ACL injury, forcing her to spend five years in college before entering the draft this year, where she was drafted as the No.1 overall pick by the Dallas Wings.