JuJu Watkins has powered USC into Elite Eight. Meet the 'Yoda' who's helped her dominate.
PORTLAND, Ore. — On their way to the gym Friday for practice, the USC Trojans, the No. 1 seed in the Portland 3 Regional, the Pac-12 tournament champs, the team playing for its first Final Four since 1986, issued a command to the best freshman in the country.
Get in the back, rookie.
"Man, I’m sick of this seniority stuff," JuJu Watkins deadpanned to reporters later. "We couldn’t put Kenzie in the back, her knees are bad."
Watkins rolled her eyes dramatically, as the veterans next to her, McKenzie Forbes and Rayah Marshall, cackled in response.
It was some good, old-fashioned ribbing between Forbes, the Trojans’ most veteran player, and Watkins, their best.
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Those old knees come with something else, though: Wisdom. Experience. And for Forbes, the sixth-year, 23-year-old graduate guard who has learned you can’t take one second for granted, joy.
"To me your college basketball years are the best of your life," Forbes told USA TODAY Sports. "The resources, the camaraderie. The gap year was the first year in my life I didn’t have teammates. It was so weird! I didn’t like it. It’s a really unique bond − only the people in the locker room know what you go through every day, know the inside jokes. I’m truly just having a lot of fun."
That much is evident. On Saturday in USC’s 74-70 Sweet 16 win over Baylor, Forbes’ stat line looked like this: 14 points, two assists, one huge block, numerous play call suggestions to both the staff and her teammates, too many grins to count.
There's no one having a better time this month. And there’s no one in college hoops who’s had a journey quite like Forbes, who grew up outside of Sacramento in Folsom, California. To recap: she started her college career at Cal-Berkeley, playing for Lindsay Gottlieb in 2018-19. After her freshman year, a season in which Forbes earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention freshman honors and the Bears went to the NCAA Tournament, Gottlieb left for the NBA. Forbes decided to transfer. She felt Harvard, where her older brother Mason already played, was the best option. Harvard was happy to have her, but because she’d missed the Harvard-specific transfer deadline, she’d have to wait a year to apply.
"Everyone thought I was psycho, and rightfully so," Forbes said. "They kept telling me, ‘You don’t even know if you’re going to get in!’"
Oh, also, she’d need to enroll at a junior college to stay eligible, and get her associate’s degree in just one year. So Forbes signed up for six classes a semester and pulled straight-As while rehabbing injuries and training. She took up coaching, too, helping run a middle school AAU team, an experience that continues to pay dividends (more on that in a second).
Then COVID hit. Harvard canceled the 2020-21 season, forcing Forbes out of the gym again. Worse, she spent the season watching former AAU teammates like former Stanford All-American Haley Jones compete in the NCAA bubble tournament and win a national title.
"It was heartbreaking," Forbes admitted. "I wasn’t able to work out like I wanted to, I’m watching all my friends play in the COVID NCAA Tournament. I got a taste of the tournament (at Cal) and then I took two years off. Coaching definitely helped me. I love the game in a different way now, I see it in a different way. It was good for my IQ, and it helped keep me sane."
Finally, in 2021-22, she was back, starting in 23 games for Harvard, averaging 14.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game, earning second team All-Ivy League honors. She was similarly steady the next year, and earned the title of team captain.
By spring 2023, she had an Ivy degree in sociology and at least one year of eligibility left. And Gottlieb, herself an Ivy graduate, was back in the college game, having taken over at USC in May 2021. It felt like a natural fit.
USC had arguably the best offseason in women’s hoops, adding three Ivy League transfers (Forbes, plus guard Kayla Padilla from Penn and forward Kaitlyn Davis from Columbia) and Watkins, a generational talent who has the prettiest pull-up in all of college hoops.
Gottlieb has praised Forbes’ basketball IQ multiple times this season. Forbes’ ability to see the floor — as both a point guard and former youth coach — helps Gottlieb navigate which plays should be called and when. Forbes will talk to Watkins, asking if she wants the ball here or there. Watkins will tell Forbes she likes this play, but not in that direction. Forbes will encourage Watkins when she thinks Watkins can take over, and tell her to reel it in when Watkins needs to take a deep breath. Watkins might take almost 23 shots per game, but it’s because Forbes knows she needs to.
Saturday after she scored 30, Watkins called Forbes “Yoda” for all Forbes has taught the first-year star.
"I think we have a special relationship, that rookie-vet type vibe," Watkins said. "She’s always encouraging me and really speaking to me in times I need it during the game. She’s just a great leader. And I’m glad to have that type of leadership my first year."
Forbes isn't afraid of the big moment either, giving the Trojans two excellent options when the shot clock is winding down and they need a bucket. She’s savvy enough to create for others, or herself.
A few examples: Late in the third, with USC trailing 50-49, Forbes’ hockey assist to Watkins set up Marshall for a transition layup. On the next possession, as USC desperately tried to keep Baylor at bay, Forbes scored on a floater in the lane and drew the foul. Minutes later, Forbes pulled up for a transition 3, nailed it and then blew a kiss to the Trojans fans going wild behind USC’s bench.
"I’m having the best time of my life," Forbes said after the game. "This is by far the most fun season of basketball I’ve ever had, and I think it has everything to do with my teammates and the staff."
She smiled, and the grin spread across her face again.
"And, obviously, winning is really fun, too."
