"Year 2 leap is finna be insane": Fans get hyped for JuJu Watkins' teammate Kennedy Smith as USC resumes practice for new season

USC Trojans guard Kennedy Smith is looking to expand her skillset to another level in the 2025-26 season. Her and her team suffered a heartbreak earlier on March 31 when they were outclassed by the UConn Huskies through a 14-point loss.

This defeat signalled their premature ending to the 2024-25 campaign, as they couldn't win this year's national championship despite being favorites.

It seems as though Smith is working as hard to bring the Trojans farther in her upcoming sophomore year. After all, the team's spitfire scorer in JuJu Watkins was ruled out for the majority of this year's national tournament back on March 24. This was a driving force in USC's elimination from March Madness, as Smith and Co. needed a full team.

On Saturday, April 26, the Trojans' social media team took it to their X account to upload a compilation of Smith working on her game. In the 30-second clip, Smith, along with other Trojans players, were seen working on their jumpers, but off the dribble and off the catch.

College basketball fans and spectators then went all over X to get hype over Smith and the work she put in recently for Lindsay Gottlieb's squad.

Other users opted to share that they thought it was Watkins who was training in the reel instead of her teammate in Smith, as the two are deemed to look similar for quite some time now.

In her rookie stint of collegiate hoops, Smith averaged 9.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.2 steals per contest for USC. She is looking to pump up the aforementioned numbers further during the next season later this year.

JuJu Watkins' full recovery could take nine to 14 months in total

Given that JuJu Watkins sustained a full ACL tear on her knee, the timetable for her return could range from nine months to as long as 14. This means that Watkins' first game back will be during the next season of college basketball. In the meantime, names like Kennedy Smith could step up in her place for now.

On her second year with the USC Trojans, Watkins dropped stellar averages of 23.9 markers, 6.8 boards, 3.4 dimes, 2.2 swipes and 1.8 blocks per game. The Trojans finished the campaign with an overall record of 31-4 and 17-1 during Big Ten conference play.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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