Who is JuJu Watkins? Media-hyped teen trying to break Caitlin Clark's prized record
2025-01-09
Category: sports

JuJu Watkins says she has a goal that she keeps in the back of her mind.&nbsp; That goal is to break the NCAA all-time scoring record, currently held by Caitlin Clark. It is a realistic goal for her, statistically.&nbsp; "Naturally, being on pace, it's always in the back of my mind," Watkins told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "The goal is to continue to produce at this level, and do it as efficiently as I can." Watkins played the 50th game of her college career on Wednesday night in a 79-74 win over Maryland, bringing her career point total 1,318 over those first 50 games. Clark put up 1,328 points over the first 50 games of her college career. Watkins was outpacing Clark in career scoring after a 40-point game against California Baptist on Dec. 3, but slowed down over the next eight games compared to the same stretch in Clark's sophomore season. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Still, Watkins has the benefit of possibly playing more games in her career with an expanded Big 10, compared to the one Clark played in, and potentially more postseason games.&nbsp; However, even with that competitive pace, Watkins only "wishes" she could play like Clark, who is far and away the better 3-point shooter. "I wish I played like her," Watkins said.  Watkins also has multiple opportunities to do what Clark never could in college – win the national championship game. That first opportunity could come as early as this March. Watkins has led her squad to a 15-1 start and a top-four national ranking. They just have to get past the big sister in town, as rival No. 1 UCLA is undefeated, with two matchups to play against Watkins late in the season.&nbsp; Clark's direct interference may or may not play a role in whether Watkins ends up doing any of that. At some point this season, or any in the future, Watkins has the option to ask Clark a question.&nbsp; "I met her once," Watkins says. "She offered her number and she said, if I ever have any questions, she would answer them." Watkins added, "It will probably just be a spur of the moment type of thing," when she does reach out. &nbsp;  HOW CAITLIN CLARK BATTLED THROUGH CULTURE WARS EN ROUTE TO HISTORIC 2024 There is plenty she could ask when that time comes. It might not even have anything to do with playing basketball. At just 19 years old, Watkins has already been anointed a subcultural icon.&nbsp; She has a devout and visible following in her home community of Southern California and has taken the reins as the most popular player in the college game, nationally, in the aftermath of Clark's departure for the pros. On her first road trip to the East Coast as a player in the Big Ten Conference for USC's inaugural season, Watkins made a stop in New Jersey to lead a 50-point blowout win against a Rutgers team reeling from the dysfunction of a mysteriously-benched star player. However, nearly the entire crowd stayed the whole game to watch Watkins.&nbsp; On Thursday in Maryland, she put up 21 points before fouling out of the game, beating an undefeated top-10 team in front of a devout crowd of many of her own fans, while a national audience watched on Fox Sports.&nbsp;  "The attention wasn't always there, so to just see the eyes on it and people respecting the sport more, and young girls getting into the sport more, it's a dream come true," Watkins said, crediting Clark for bringing the attention.&nbsp; Before it was playing in front of home court-type away crowds thousands of miles from home, Watkins' dream had plenty of harder moments along the way.&nbsp; Controversial NBA star Draymond Green made Watkins vomit with an overwhelming workout in high school Watkins remembers all the hard moments. One particularly glaring moment came during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020. Watkins was just a sophomore in high school and admitted she was probably out of shape because of the lifestyle restrictions during the pandemic.&nbsp; "I was out of shape, I was so out of shape," Watkins said.&nbsp; So Golden State Warriors player Draymond Greene came knocking with a workout offer.&nbsp; "I will never forget it," Watkins said of the experience. Watkins said Green's workout had her dribble up and down a court and shoot the ball over and over again until she threw up.&nbsp; "I was done," Watkins said, adding that she did not even talk to him after the workout. "I don't even think I could speak, honestly."&nbsp; Green spoke about this workout with Watkins during an episode of his podcast in February.&nbsp;  "It's not your typical NBA workout," Green said.&nbsp; "You go shoot some spots and go to the next like we go and she came to our workout and the first day like you could tell her skill was there and like all the things, but she was struggling to get through the workout a bit and and like you know I'm pushing her like ‘hey come on Ju you got it come on.'"&nbsp; Green said he has seen other athletes refuse to come back the next day after their first session, but Watkins returned for more punishment.&nbsp; INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE'S IMPACT ON MEN'S BASKETBALL "I've had NBA players come to my workouts, throw up, not come back, you know. I've had, I've seen all different types, and she came back the next day, and I was like that ‘that young lady has a future in this game,’" he said. What happened next?&nbsp;  Watkins went on to have such a strong sophomore season amid the crisis of a pandemic, that she won the 2020 Sports Illustrated Kids' SportsKid of the Year award. Her reputation started to really spread. Then she went on to win Gatorade National Player of the Year and Naismith Prep Player of the Year, and became the top-rated college recruit in 2022. She shocked the nation when she turned down an offer to play for Dawn Staley at South Carolina, instead staying home in Los Angeles to play for USC.&nbsp; Then came what she calls the hardest experience of her life. "The adjustment from high school to college, and getting used to the rigorous schedule of it all, it was just a big adjustment for me. It was a big change," she said. "It gave me a new perspective on life." Watkins did not get into too much detail about what that adjustment looked like. However, the numbers say she was able to adjust in time for the start of her first season. She got on pace to potentially break Clark's record right away with a historic freshman year and has stayed on course ever since.&nbsp; Watkins is the descendant of a prominent labor rights leader – generations later she wants to see players like her get more from the game A period of growth for women's basketball is also a time of diligence for players like Watkins. She is highly aware of the importance of players maintaining leverage as they negotiate their dues, rights and privileges from the WNBA and NCAA.&nbsp; "It's so important to advocate for our rights, especially in this field as women," she said. "That's where true change comes, being able to voice our opinion and change things that don't seem fit for us." In 2024, WNBA players got access to charter flights for the first time. Now the players' union, the WNBPA, is taking the league back to the negotiating table. The union voted to opt out of its current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in October, and the league could see a work stoppage if a new deal is not met by the end of the 2025 season.&nbsp;  The next CBA that the union negotiates will determine just how many rights and benefits Watkins will get as a player when she enters the WNBA in 2027 or later. So, she is rooting for the union to get as much as it can, especially after the wait for charter flights.&nbsp; "Charter flights, that was long overdue," Watkins said. "It's what these women deserve, they work so hard, the least they can get is chartered to their games." Watkins' passion for this is rooted in her family history. Her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins, organized and founded the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) in 1965. He organized it just months before the infamous "Watts Rebellion," also known as the "Watts Uprising" and "Watts Riots." This incident saw thousands of residents in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles riot out of anger over issues that included employment discrimination and poverty.&nbsp; After the riots, Ted organized the youth to clean up blighted vacant lots, plant grass and flowers and turn them into vest-pocket parks, according to the WLCAC website.&nbsp; Ted Watkins' committee grew to prominence as a community self-help agency aiding thousands of residents in gaining employment and essential services. He was involved in the construction of a financial institution and hospital in Watts, as well as the development of low-income housing and youth programs.&nbsp; "My great-grandfather is a big part of our family and one of my role models just to look up to for my city of Watts and just for so many people," JuJu said.&nbsp; CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP However, she also understands the importance of growing the sport as a whole to ensure that it can provide as much as possible for those players.&nbsp; The WNBA has not been profitable in a single season in its history.&nbsp; Clark's arrival in 2024 appears to be the league's best opportunity to change that for the first time. Clark's arrival, and the new wave of followers and media attention she has brought to the game, has also sparked controversy and criticism from WNBA veterans and former players.&nbsp; Watkins, who is now seeing the spoils of all the attention Clark brought to the college game, is ready to embrace it all.&nbsp; "I don't think anyone has changed the trajectory of the sport so much," Watkins said of Clark.&nbsp; As Watkins looks to break Clark's scoring record, she &nbsp;hopes many of the new fans of women's basketball, even the ones who cause her "headaches" and "don't know what they're talking about sometimes," will come to cheer for her. But Watkins will also embrace these fans and the attention if they "hate" her. "I love supporters and I also love haters." Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.