Fans Blame Injury of College Basketball Star To Caitlin Clark – The Logic Is BIZARRE! Why is it always Her?
JuJu Watkins had another phenomenal performance on Sunday as the No. 7 USC Trojans women’s basketball team blew out the Elon Phoenix 88-30, but it came at a cost.
The decision to keep Watkins in the game deep into the fourth quarter may have backfired. The sophomore guard appeared to injure her ankle with about 5:20 left in the game and the Trojans up by 54 points. She left the game at the 4:36 mark and did not return.
Watkins finished the game with 26 points, five rebounds and five assists. It was not the first time this season she racked up a gaudy stat line against an inferior opponent.
Fans on social media were quick to blame the USC coaching staff for allowing her to pad her stats against Elon in what they believed to be an effort to match a college basketball record set by Caitlin Clark.
Southern California Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (left) and former Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark (right).
Kirby Lee, Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
“JuJu Watkins in the game up 54 to stat pad and she got hurt,” accused a fan on X. “Hope she’s okay and hope this is a lesson to USCs coaching staff about stat padding and chasing records.”
Watkins has set an incredible scoring pace in her brief career at USC so far. Through 45 career games, she has 1,192 points, putting her on a similar, albeit less efficient track, as Caitlin Clark.
“They’re keeping her in too long and she’s still not scoring enough to break Clark’s record,” wrote another concerned fan after the Elon game. “They’re risking her health for a record. Dirty work.”
“Juju Watkins getting injured while they were up 50 usc coaches should be ashamed of themselves,” wrote an X user. “Hopefully she’s okay.”
“On the floor in the final minutes of the game, while leading by 54 points,” criticized another reply. “All to pad stats.”
If Watkins is serious about chasing Clark’s points record, USC’s alleged stat-padding strategy does not deviate from how Clark’s coaches treated her at Iowa.
“It’s hard, but a triple-double is so special,” former Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder said in 2023 about leaving Clark in games. “I tell her what I need her to do, I need her to go get a rebound. Again, there is risk involved in that, but there’s risk in walking into a restaurant downtown. I want my players to have those kinds of accolades if they’re that close.”
The uproar was magnified by the fact that USC’s next game is on the road against No. 4 UConn and star guard Paige Bueckers on Saturday. The game is anticipated to draw one of the biggest television audiences of the season, threatening another one of Clark’s many records.
The Trojans have not given an update on the health of Watkins as of Monday morning.
