On Monday in Las Vegas, the USC Women’s basketball team could be entering its greatest season in history.
“We feel it,” said Lindsay Gottlieb, in an exclusive conversation with The Sporting Tribune.
“You know, I think that this is what you want for women's basketball to be relevant and to matter. And USC has poured into me and our team from day one. And so we can feel, you know, what the build has come to.
It was a build that started when Los Angeles native JuJu Watkins, decided to play her college basketball at home as a Trojan. She led USC to the Elite Eight and just short of a Final Four as a Freshman.
A championship season seemed well within USC’s reach entering the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Everything changed in the second round of the March Madness when Watkins limped off the Galen Center floor after tearing her ACL in her right knee.
Over 19 months later, Watkins will make her return when the Trojans face off against UNLV in the Naismith Hall of Fame Women's Showcase at T-Mobile Arena. Her Head Coach couldn’t be happier.
“All of a sudden, the buzz is back,” Gottlieb added.
“I've appreciated her from day one, but seeing what she went through last year and having to be on the side and how much she invested in her team - I just want everything for her that should be coming to her.”
Just how big is Watkins’ return? Well, big enough that Good Morning America featured JuJu and her parents in a feature about the upcoming season.
“Coming in with a little chip on my shoulder,” Watkins told the national morning show.
“I’m coming in with same intention and intensity that I’ve had before, if not even more.”
With Watkins returning and joining Big 10 Rookie Of The Year, Jazzy Davidson, the Trojans are ranked number three in the country, and have lofty expectations on their shoulders. They are also adding another number one national recruit, in freshman Saniyah Hall. The eyes of women’s basketball around the world will be glued to this program.
Entering her 6th season at USC, Coach Gottlieb will have to manage all of it. If anyone can do it, she can. In a three year span, she’s coached a championship contender, then a team grappling with losing a megastar, back to coaching a contender once again.
“It's just an absolute joy to be able to navigate what college coaching is,” she explained.
“We went from back-to-back number one seeds, you know, to losing the player of the year and having to adjust, and we still made the tournament. Won a game.”
Now the big prize is squarely in their sights, just months after watching their crosstown rivals, UCLA, win it all. They just might be the jolt the school needs in athletics with the football team in the midst of another disappointing season.
“Obviously, the ultimate goal was to be at the top,” Gottlieb added.
“I think every step that we've had along the way is going to lead us to where we're supposed to be.”