SPOKANE, Wash. — Out of sight, front of mind.
USC women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she’s been moved by the enormous outpouring of support and sympathy for star sophomore JuJu Watkins, who suffered a torn ACL early in the Trojans’ second-round NCAA Tournament victory over Mississippi State on Monday night at the Galen Center.
“I think if you can even fathom the impact that a 19-year-old has had on our university, on our community, on the women’s basketball world at such a young age, that’s been on full display,” Gottlieb said Friday during a news conference ahead of the top-seeded Trojans’ Sweet 16 game against No. 5 Kansas State on Saturday (5 p.m.) at Spokane Arena.
Gottlieb said she gave Watkins a journal so, “when you feel it, like, let yourself feel all the feelings that you’re feeling because if you do that, then at some point you’re able to move on from them and go further in your life.”
Others have been writing too, Gottlieb said, loading her up with messages. From the NBA to WNBA to the college ranks, notes have come from fellow coaches – including UCLA’s Cori Close, UConn’s Geno Auriemma and Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey – and former Sparks legend Candace Parker: “‘Hey, when JuJu’s ready, we can connect.’”
“Nothing but support,” Gottlieb said. “And again, I think it speaks mostly to JuJu and who she is, and everybody wants her playing basketball and everybody respects who she is as a person and as a player.”
As a player, Watkins is a one of four finalists for both the Naismith Trophy and the Wade Trophy and for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. And she’s already won the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year, adding to a collection that also includes the Sporting News National Player of the Year, The Athletic’s National Player of the Year, as well as All-America first team pick by the AP, USBWA and Sporting News.
As a person, she’s equally well-regarded.
India Otto – Watkins’ former teammate turned coordinator of player engagement after graduating last year – penned a poignant tribute to her friend on Instagram.
“You inspire, delight, play with passion, and move with grace and humility. You’re not defined by any singular moment, but by your collection of greatness you’ve earned through your incomparable dedication, work ethic, sacrifices, and long hours in the gym,” Otto wrote. “You’re the strongest and most incredible person I know. You will write the greatest comeback story of all time. I’m by your side every step of the way through it all. The comeback begins!”
HOME SWEET HOME
As soon as she was dismissed from USC’s news conference, USC graduate transfer guard Talia Von Oelhoffen bolted from the dais and chased after Austin Getz, now the sports director for SWX Local Sports. She had to say hello.
Previously, Getz was a reporter in KNDU/O TV in Tri-Cities, Washington, about 140 miles southwest of Spokane. He covered Von Oelhoffen as a high school prospect at tiny Class 2B Tri-Cities Prep, where team played, Getz said, in a gym that could hold, at most, 50 – if they were squeezed shoulder to shoulder.
The daughter of former NFL lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen and former University of Hawaii women’s basketball star Tondi Redden von Oelhoffen, Talia averaged 30 points per game as a sophomore and helped lead Tri-Cities Prep to the state championship – at Spokane Arena.
She finished her prep career at Chiawana High School, earning acclaim as the nation’s No. 10 overall prospect for the Class of 2021. She attended Oregon State, helping lead the Beavers to the Elite Eight in 2024 before transferring to USC following the dissolution of the Pac-12 Conference.
“To see her go from that to a big school and have success and then go to Oregon State and have success and then to a No. 1 seed and have success and be the same steady (person)?” Getz said. “It’s so cool.”
That’s basically how she feels reuniting with the city of Spokane, where she also won middle-school titles.
“I’ve done a lot of winning in Spokane,” said von Oelhoffen, who expected 38 family and friends – at last count – to be in the stands this weekend. “I feel super-confident here.”