On Sunday, JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans suffered their second loss of the season, falling to the Iowa Hawkeyes 76-69. The host team snapped the visitors’ 15-game winning streak on the night that they were to retire Caitlin Clark’s jersey.
While talking about the game highlights, “Got Next” podcast’s Zora Stephenson noted to Meghan McKeown how sportsmanlike the No. 4-ranked Trojans were when they remained on the court following the loss to watch Clark’s jersey retirement ceremony and honor the former Hawkeye.
“Just in as added nugget, you talked about how it was Caitlin’s retirement and we’ll get to that—USC stayed to watch it,” Stephenson said. “That was really classy and I’m sure it sucked to just sit there after losing a game you felt like you should have won.”
JuJu Watkins and the Trojans will see the loss reflect on the next AP rankings, but Sunday apparently was not the night to think about that. It was also worth noting that USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb and her team decided before the game even started that they would stay to watch the ceremony that cements Caitlin Clark as one of the all-time greats in Iowa.
“This day isn’t lost on us from a non-basketball game piece of it,” Gottlieb said. “I’m really impressed with the atmosphere here, the love for women’s basketball, the appreciation for what Caitlin’s done.”
The Trojans coach added, “We had decided prior to the outcome of the game that we were going to stay out there and be a part of that, to honor her and where women’s basketball is.”
USC coach managed JuJu Watkins better with help from Caitlin Clark
USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb gave JuJu Watkins enough opportunities to shine last year, but she did not do it alone. She revealed in an interview with NBC Sports last October that she reached out to Caitlin Clark to help the Trojans guard reach her potential.
“Our administration has reached out to Iowa quite a bit and said ‘Okay, tell us what we need to know, some of the things that Caitlin dealt with,’” Gottlieb said. “I reached out to Caitlin and said, ‘How can I help JuJu with this?,’ I feel like it’s my job to make sure that I’m using all the resources.”
Gottlieb also revealed that in the midst of helping JuJu Watkins improve, Caitlin Clark also gave the coach her personal contact details so she can reach out to her for more help.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
