There is a version of college basketball history in which JuJu Watkins plays her career in Columbia. It didn’t happen — but the what-if has never felt more present than it does right now.
Watkins, the most decorated scorer of her generation, was standing inside Colonial Life Arena on March 20, watching her Southern Cal teammates prepare for an NCAA Tournament game. The last time she had been on South Carolina’s campus before that may have been October 2022, when the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2024 took her official visit and left the Gamecocks believing they had a real chance. Three weeks later, she committed to the school less than 15 miles from where she grew up in Los Angeles. Staying home, building a legacy in her own city — it was a pull that Columbia, for all its appeal, couldn’t fully overcome.
But the thread between Watkins and South Carolina never fully broke.
The Recruitment, the Decision, and What It Meant
When Watkins narrowed her choices to two — Southern Cal and South Carolina — it represented something significant for both programs. Dawn Staley had built Columbia into one of the premier destinations in women’s college basketball, and landing the nation’s top prospect would have been a crowning recruitment. Lindsay Gottlieb, who had been rebuilding USC since taking over in 2021-22 after eight seasons at Cal, was assembling something of her own on the West Coast.
Watkins chose home. The decision was announced live on ESPN at Sierra Canyon School — the same high school where current South Carolina commit Jerzy Robinson, the No. 5 player in the 2026 class, now plays. The symmetry is not lost on anyone paying attention: the school that produced the recruit Staley didn’t land is now producing one she did.
What followed at USC justified every bit of the recruitment hype. Watkins averaged 27.1 points per game as a freshman — one of the most dominant debut seasons in the modern era of women’s college basketball — then followed it with 23.9 as a sophomore. She became a cultural force beyond the sport, cornering NIL deals and building a public profile that extended well past basketball arenas.
Staley, for her part, never stopped watching.
“We were fortunate enough to be one of her schools in the end,” Staley said. “So I’ve kept in touch with her and her support system.”
An Injury, a Void, and a Relationship That Endured
Then came the moment that reframed everything. One year ago almost to the day, Watkins tore her ACL in a second-round March Madness game, ending her sophomore season and wiping out her entire junior year. She has not played a competitive game since.
Staley did not hesitate to reach out.
“Really tough,” Staley said in the aftermath. “JuJu is loved by all of us. JuJu is raising and lifting our game up with how she plays, with cornering the market when it comes to NIL deals. I mean, she’s a business herself, and to see part of that not a part of our NCAA Tournament, something is missing. There’s a big void.”
The statement was notable for its generosity. Watkins plays for a program that competes directly with South Carolina at the highest level of the sport. And yet Staley spoke about her absence from March Madness as a loss for the game itself — which, given Watkins’ impact on the sport’s visibility and commercial reach, it genuinely was. The two are also co-investors in Unrivaled, the 3×3 basketball league that launched in 2025 and just completed its second season, which adds another layer of genuine connection beyond recruiting history.
When South Carolina traveled to Los Angeles in November for the first installment of “The Real SC” — a bicoastal series between the two programs announced shortly before Watkins’ injury — Watkins was courtside. She hugged Staley before tip-off. The Gamecocks won 69-52. The second game is scheduled for November 15, 2026 in Greenville.
The Game That Could Happen — and What It Would Mean
Now, the bracket has created something neither program planned for. Southern Cal enters the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament as the No. 9 seed in the Columbia Regional, which means that if South Carolina handles No. 16 Southern on March 21 and USC dispatches No. 8 Clemson, the two schools will meet on March 23 — in Columbia, on South Carolina’s floor, with Watkins watching from the bench.
USC vs. USC. The Real SC, tournament edition.
Watkins will not play. Her junior season has been a medical redshirt, and her return to the court belongs to a future chapter. But her presence in that arena — the program that almost signed her, the coach who still texts her, the building she visited as a 17-year-old deciding her future — would carry a weight that no box score can fully capture.
The recruitment that got away is back in the building. And Gottlieb’s program, which has now also landed Saniyah Hall — this year’s top overall prospect, who took an official visit to South Carolina before ultimately choosing USC — is emerging as a genuine counterweight to the empire Staley has built.
The rivalry is real. The history is personal. And Sunday’s potential matchup, should both teams advance, would be one of the more layered stories the tournament has produced in years — with the game’s most compelling injured spectator sitting just off the court, watching it all unfold.
