JuJu Watkins isn’t expected to start the 2025-2026 season from day one. The USC Trojans’ stellar guard will likely still be recovering from her injury by then, so her return is expected to occur sometime in the second half of the season.
As you may recall, Watkins suffered a torn ACL during March Madness, which required surgery. This injury typically requires 8 to 12 months to heal.
Even under these circumstances, well-known college basketball insider Chelsea Sherrod doesn’t rule out Watkins being named Player of the Year:
“It could [happen],” she said.
Insider Sees UConn Star Besting JuJu Watkins Next Season
Watkins is one of the best scorers in college basketball, averaging 25.5 points per game in two seasons with the Trojans. However, Sherrod believes her chances of winning the Naismith Award may also benefit from the performance of two of her main rivals: Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd.
During a recent edition of The Hoops Cap Pod, Sherrod stated that both UConn Huskies stars will be two of the main protagonists of the upcoming season. She also said that mutual competition can be a driving factor in achieving good results, both for them and for Watkins and other top players.
However, Sherrod, who covers the UConn Huskies for SportsNet New York, believes this will be Fudd’s year:
“It is 100% Azzi Fudd,” she said. “Because Azzi is the…more of the veteran. Obviously, Sarah is incredible and she’s going to have a monster year and she’s just going to continue to get better. But this is going to be Azzi’s team.
“She has the most experience, even though she hasn’t played a lot relatively, but I think that just because of her seniority, she will take on more of a leadership role.”
Naturally, Sherrod isn’t ruling out Strong as a contender for NCAA Women’s Player of the Year honors:
“If Sarah goes on to win that, to me it would say that she’s just gotten that much better. I expect them [Fudd and Strong] to be the one-two punch.”
Needless to say, Sherrod thinks the Huskies are in a position to repeat their NCAA title:
“They’re stacked,” she said.
Both Fudd and Strong were among the Huskies’ leaders in their 2025 NCAA title run.
Fudd, a four-year veteran with UConn, averaged 13.6 points, two rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Strong, playing her freshman season, averaged 16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
Although the Huskies lost superstar Paige Bueckers, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, they remain one of the favorites for next season. In addition to Fudd and Strong, UConn has top players like Ashlynn Shade and Ice Brady on its roster.
If they repeat their NCAA Tournament title in 2026, the UConn Huskies would win the event in consecutive years for the third time in program history. No other NCAA team is even close to matching that.