Paige Bueckers vs. JuJu Watkins: How UConn and USC stars will keep women's basketball in the spotlight

USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb saw a stranger approaching. She thought maybe she had spilled something and he would give her a warning. Instead, he stopped at their table and paused.

“Hey, coach,” he said. 'I thought it was you. I have to ask…'

She waited.

“Is JuJu really 6 feet tall?” he asked.

Gottlieb laughed. She responded — yes, JuJu Watkins is listed at 6-foot-1 — and then joked that it depends on how much of Watkins' iconic bun is counted. A big guard in the even bigger Big Ten was an attractive prospect for this LA sports fan. Even in the summer, he was eagerly anticipating the season, which featured USC — a team that appeared just three times on national networks last season before its postseason run to the Elite Eight — making nine previous appearances on ESPN, FOX, FS1 and NBC would be to see. Big Ten Tournament.

He thanked Gottlieb, wished her luck and continued on his way.

The exchange felt strangely familiar to Gottlieb, just not as the head coach of USC, a program she took over in 2021 when it was a cellar dweller in the Pac-12. Instead, it reminded her of experiences during two seasons as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant, when insatiable NBA fans wanted to shut down every possible game and every moment.

“For those of us who have been following this game for a long time, we know there have been great players before, we knew the great stories before, but now we get to see how the rest of the world understands and pays attention is really cool Gottlieb said. “Then you add to that this kind of position that I've been put in, where we're one of the programs with one of these star players that's getting a lot of attention. It's a big responsibility. It's a great opportunity.

“It's not lost on me that we're kind of at the peak of this moment.”

More than 2,500 miles across the country, UConn coach Geno Auriemma can relate. For nearly four decades, some of the biggest stars to play the game have come through the Huskies' gym. Still, the fanfare didn't match what he saw on the men's side.

Until now.

In early October, UConn announced it had sold out its season ticket packages for the first time since the 2004-05 season after Diana Taurasi won a national championship as a senior.

That didn't happen during the Maya Moore or Breanna Stewart years, or after 111 straight wins or four straight national titles. Not until now – Paige Bueckers' last season at Storrs.

“There are people who have never had an opinion but who now have an opinion or who want to know things they never wanted to know but are now familiar with names and events that they wouldn't think twice about in the past . Auriemma said. “The die-hard fans can't wait for the season to start. But the casual fan has tuned in and taken a sip, and now they're intrigued.

There is no denying the groundswell of attention for women's basketball. Every song supports this. Last season's NCAA tournament set viewership records, including a title game that drew 18.9 million viewers (surpassing the men's title game by nearly 4 million, something most fans thought would never happen). Iowa's Caitlin Clark's uncanny gift for the big moment and ability to hit logo 3s brought in millions, but those fans found other players, teams and games to enjoy. Even excluding Iowa's NCAA Tournament games, ESPN ratings rose 43 percent during March Madness last year.

Clark's draw, as well as Angel Reese's at LSU, continued into the WNBA. Indiana Fever attendance and viewership soared; the same was true of Reese's Chicago Sky. Once again, these new WNBA fans stayed ahead of the other big talents.

Paige Bueckers' Huskies defeated JuJu Watkins' Trojans in the Elite Eight, but both players registered double-doubles of 20 points. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Stars drive sports and competitions. They lure casual observers and turn them into die-hards. After Clark and Reese leave for the WNBA, there will be no disappointment for college basketball stars who help carry the sport, but attention will be focused on two.

Two coasts, two conferences and two national title contenders anchor USC's Watkins and UConn's Bueckers. They perform in programs that are iconic in their own way and recognizable worldwide. They are both elite – possibly generations – and have the ball in their hands more than anyone else.

Watkins is the reigning Freshman of the Year trying to resurrect the Trojans, who have been irrelevant in her lifetime. She's the hometown kid who turned out stars like Kevin Hart, Saweetie, LeBron James and John Wall during last season's home games. The fluidity of her game and effortless quality make it seem like she's never rushed the floor, whether she's pulling up from 3 or attacking the basket (or hitting a shot somewhere in between).

Kevin Hart was on hand to see JuJu Watkins and the USC Women's Basketball team ✌️#ncaaw #fight pic.twitter.com/31PLjQDknN

— WNBA Got Game (@wnbagotgame) December 20, 2023

Bueckers, who won National Player of the Year as a freshman four years ago, is in her final season at UConn. Despite its vaunted heritage, few high school students came to Storrs more than she did. And yet, a national championship – of which UConn has won 11 – has eluded Bueckers in her fifth year. She's a rangy guard with enough inside knowledge that even when she played the four last season, she was still named an All-American. A player so confident that she trademarked her nickname “Paige Buckets” before her sophomore season.

The play, storylines and celebrity of Watkins and Bueckers, as well as the December meeting of USC and UConn (a rematch of last season's Elite Eight) are reasons why people, including new fans, will tune into women's hoops this season.

But unlike players before them with similar attributes, they are competing at a time of unprecedented transformation.

Due to an investigation that revealed serious disparities in NCAA men's and women's basketball, the NCAA was forced to invest more in the women's NCAA Tournament. Because of the growing attention, ESPN, the media partner of the women's NCAA Tournament, took action last year and paid a lot of money for the media rights to broadcast the event. Thanks to NIL, players like Bueckers and Watkins are recognizable outside women's basketball circles, in collaboration with major companies like Nike And Gatorade. Watkins was spotted at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival, threw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in June and won the ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete. Bueckers attended the US Open where Frances Tiafoe and Coco Gauff shouted her out, sat front row at New York Fashion Week and was seen on the JumboTron at a Los Angeles Rams game.

“There are no boundaries with us, and because of that you see talent, you see coaching, you see fan support, you see viewers – you see all these things,” the South Carolina coach said. said Dawn Staley. “This is probably the biggest move in our game in its history, and it couldn't happen at a more perfect time. … So many people are tuned in; we met the moment.

To continue meeting that moment, women's basketball needs the next wave of stars. It takes teams with compelling storylines (Staley's Gamecocks are a perfect example of the reigning champs bouncing back after an undefeated season), but it also needs individuals like Watkins and Bueckers, whose stories and journeys this season will be as compelling as their game. the floor.

“It's great that we have them because it would be a shame to follow up on last year's star power and not add anything this season,” Auriemma said. “We have to highlight these guys and these teams, and we have to play well. We need to give all these new people who are going to watch something to be excited about so that they want to come back.

If Bueckers and Watkins do what their coaches believe, new fans will certainly have reasons to continue tuning in and finding their next favorite players once Bueckers and Watkins make the transition to the pros.

Auriemma and Gottlieb, who have been in this game for decades, know that this moment is not only different; it's been a long time. What comes next (or rather, who comes next) will move the sport forward.

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The athletic; Top Photos of Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins: G Fiume / Getty Images, Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)