Breanna Stewart (UConn) and Cheryl Miller (USC) hold the record for most awards won (3). JuJu Watkins turned heads all season long, and now she has the hardware to prove it: the 2025 Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Award.

Lisa Leslie says "we can’t just write USC off because JuJu (Watkins) is not out there" in an interview with USA Today.

The former Iowa star turned Indiana Fever talisman sent some classy well-wishes to Watkins on Monday afternoon in a post on X. Clark is clearly a great person to have in Watkins' corner in a tough time during her playing career:

College basketball lost one of its biggest talents for the season Monday night. USC star JuJu Watkins was carried off the court after sustaining a season-ending knee injury in a win over Mississippi State.

Caitlin Clark sent a message to JuJu Watkins after the USC superstar suffered a torn ACL in her right knee in the Trojans’ second-round rout of Mississippi State, 96-59, in the NCAA women’s ...

Clark added no caption, just a quiet repost — a show of respect that spoke volumes. Watkins finishes her season averaging 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. Her dominance earned her back-to-back honors — first in the Pac-12 and this year in the Big Ten, after USC's conference switch.

So much had been heaped on JuJu Watkins from the start — from the moment she set foot on USC’s campus, she was the one who would bring the program back to the mountaintop. This season, she was the player who would carry the star power in women’s college basketball in the wake of Caitlin Clark.

The USC star's season was tragically cut short with a torn ACL in the NCAA tournament, but her excellence this season was recognized.