USC head coach Lindsey Gottlieb noticed a stranger approaching. She thought maybe she had spilled something and that he meant to warn her. Instead, he stopped near their table and stopped.
“Hey, coach,” he said. “I thought it was you. I had to ask…”
she waited.
“Is JuJu really 6 feet 2 inches?” he asked.
Gottlieb laughed. She replied, “Yes, JuJu Watkins' height is listed as 6-foot-2,” and then joked that it depends on how much Watkins' iconic bun counts. An even bigger Big Ten big guard was an attraction for the Los Angeles sports fan. Even in the summer, he was looking forward to the season. USC, a team that appeared on national networks just three times last season before advancing to the Elite Eight in the postseason, will be broadcast nine times on ESPN, FOX, FS1 and NBC before the season begins. . Big Ten Tournament.
He thanked Gottlieb, wished her luck, and departed.
The exchange felt oddly familiar to Gottlieb, but not as USC's head coach, who took over the program in 2021 when she was living in the basement of the Pac-12. Instead, it reminded her of her two seasons as an assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers. At the time, insatiable NBA fans wanted to analyze every possible matchup and moment.
“For those of us who have been following this game for a long time, we knew it had great players, we knew it had a great story, but now the whole world is paying attention to this game. “It's really cool to see it get so much attention,” Gottlieb said. “Add to that the position that I've been put in. We're one of those programs that has one of our star players that's getting a lot of attention. It's a big responsibility. It's a great opportunity.
“We're not forgetting that we're at the very top right now.”
UW coach Geno Auriemma, who is more than 4,500 miles across the country, can relate. For nearly four decades, some of the game's greatest stars have come out of the Huskies' gym. But that fanfare didn't match what he saw on the men's side.
Until now.
In early October, after Diana Taurasi won a national championship as a senior, the university announced that season ticket packages were sold out for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
That didn't happen in the days of Maya Moore and Brianna Stewart, or after 111 straight wins and four straight U.S. titles. This is Paige Backers' final season at Storrs.
“People who never had an opinion before now have one or want to know things they didn't want to know; I'm familiar with names and events like that,'' Auriemma said. “Avid fans can't wait for the season to start. But casual fans have watched and taken a sip and are now intrigued.”
There is no denying the increased attention to women's basketball. All the numbers back it up. Last season's NCAA Tournament set viewership records, including the title game, which drew 18.9 million viewers (about 4 million more than the men's title game, which most fans thought was impossible). ). Iowa State star Caitlin Clark's uncanny knack for seizing big moments and her ability to make logo 3s drew millions of viewers, but those fans also loved other players, teams, and games. I was able to enjoy it. Even excluding Iowa State's NCAA Tournament games, ESPN's ratings last year increased 43% during March Madness.
Clark's draw and Angel Reese's draw at LSU followed in the WNBA. Attendance and viewership for the Indiana Fever skyrocketed. The same was true for Reese's Chicago Sky. Again, these new WNBA fans stayed for other great talent.
In the Elite Eight, Paige Bakkers' Huskies defeated JuJu Watkins' Trojans, with both players posting double-doubles with 20 points. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Stars promote sports and leagues. They seduce casual observers and turn them into keen observers. There's no disappointment in the college basketball stars who carry the weight of the sport after Clark and Reese leave for the WNBA, but all eyes will be on two of them.
Two coasts, two conferences, and two national title contenders are anchored by USC's Watkins and UConn's Buccaneers. They play for a program that is iconic in its own way and recognized around the world. They're both elite and probably have the ball in their hands more than almost anyone else in a generation.
Watkins is the reigning Freshman of the Year who is trying to bring back the Trojans, who she hasn't been involved with her whole life. She's a local who played home games last season with stars like Kevin Hart, Saweetie, LeBron James and John Wall. The smoothness and effortless quality of her game is such that whether she's pulling up from a back three or attacking the basket (or anything in between), it's as if she had never charged the floor. Makes me think.
Kevin Hart was in attendance to watch JuJu Watkins and the University of Southern California women's basketball team ✌️#ncaaw #phyton pic.twitter.com/31PLjQDknN
— WNBA Got Game (@wnbagotgame) December 20, 2023
Bueckers, who won the national player of the year award as a freshman four years ago, is in his final collegiate season. Despite her proud accomplishments, few high school athletes were heralded for joining Storrs as much as she was. But in its fifth year, the Bookers have yet to win a national championship. UConn has won 11 of those titles. She's a strong guard with enough acumen to still be named an All-American even when she played in the Big Four last season. He was such a confident player that he trademarked his nickname “Paige Buckets” before his second season.
Watkins and the Buccaneers' plays, stories, celebrities and the December meeting between USC and UConn (a rematch of last season's Elite Eight) are reasons why people, including new fans, are paying attention to women's hoops this season.
But unlike previous players with the same characteristics, they are competing at a time of unprecedented transformation.
A study that revealed deep disparities in NCAA men's and women's basketball has forced the NCAA to invest more in the women's NCAA Tournament. Due to the increased attention, ESPN, the women's NCAA Tournament media partner, paid a significant amount of money last year for media rights to broadcast the event. Thanks to NIL, players like Bueckers and Watkins have partnered with major companies like Nike and Gatorade and become known outside of the women's basketball world. Watkins made headlines at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival, threw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in June, and won the ESPY's Best Breakthrough Athlete award. Bookers played in the U.S. Open, got yelled at by Francis Tiafoe and Coco Gauff, sat front row at New York Fashion Week and was featured on the jumbotron at a Los Angeles Rams game.
“We don't have boundaries, so you look at the talent, you look at the coaching, you look at the fan support, you look at the ratings, you look at all of that,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “This is probably the biggest move in the history of our game, and it couldn't have happened at a more perfect time. … So many people are watching. We met that moment.”
To continue reaching that moment, women's basketball needs the next wave of stars. It takes a team with a compelling storyline (Staley's Shamcocks are a perfect example as reigning champions coming back after an undefeated season), but also individuals like Watkins and Bueckers. We need them, and their stories and journeys this season will be just as compelling as their play. floor.
“It's a shame that we can't carry over last year's star power and build on it this season, so it's great to have them,” Auriemma said. “We need to introduce these players and the team and we need to play well. We need to give all the new people who are going to watch something exciting so they want to come back. there is.”
If Bueckers and Watkins live up to their coach's beliefs, new fans will definitely have a reason to keep watching and find their next favorite players after Bueckers and Watkins go pro.
Auriemma and Gottlieb, who have been in the game for decades, know this moment isn't just different. It's been a while. What comes next (or, really, who comes next) will be what moves the sport forward.
(Illustration: Meech Robinson / Athletic. Top photo of Paige Backers and JuJu Watkins: G Fiume / Getty Images, Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire (via Getty Images)
