USBWA USC News

A prolific scorer who led her USC Trojans to their first conference title since 1994 in their first season in the Big Ten Conference, JuJu Watkins has been selected as the winner of the 2024-25 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Many familiar faces are featured on the 2024-25 U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Women's All-America Team, with 11 of 15 players on the three teams having earned previous All-America honors from the USBWA.

For the final period through Sunday, March 2, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Iowa State center Audi Crooks; South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts; West Virginia guard JJ Quinerly; Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers; USC guard JuJu Watkins. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Duke forward Toby Fournier and and the National Team of the Week is Columbia.

For the period through Sunday, Feb. 23, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Oklahoma center Raegan Beers; South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley; Portland forward Alexis Mark; USC guard JuJu Watkins; Columbia guard Riley Weiss. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Ohio State guard Jalonia Cambridge and and the National Team of the Week is NC State.

For the period through Sunday, Feb. 16, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Drake guard Katie Dinnebier; Connecticut guard Azzi Fudd; North Carolina guard Reniya Kelly; Harvard guard Harmoni Turner; and USC guard JuJu Watkins. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes and and the National Team of the Week is Texas.

For the period through Sunday, Feb. 9, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Oklahoma State guard Anna Gret Asi; Fairfield roadrunner Raiana Brown; USC forward Kiki Iriafen; NC State guard Aziaha James; Saint Joseph’s forward Laura Ziegler. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Duke forward Toby Fournier and and the National Team of the Week is Texas.

For the period through Sunday, Jan. 12, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Navy guard Zanai Barnett-Gay; Oklahoma State guard Stailee Heard; Notre Dame forward Liatu King; South Dakota guard Grace Larkins; USC guard JuJu Watkins; the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Quinnipiac guard Gal Raviv; and the National Team of the Week is South Carolina.

For the period through Sunday, Dec. 29, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Georgia Tech guard Kara Dunn; Washington guard Elle Ladine; Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles; Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle; USC guard JuJu Watkins (National); Tori McKinney, Minnesota (Freshman) and Norfolk State (Team).

For the period through Sunday, Dec. 22, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are TCU guard Madison Conner; Colorado Guard Frida Formann; South Florida guard Sammie Puisis; USC guard JuJu Watkins; and Saint Joseph’s forward Laura Ziegler. The Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Week is North Carolina guard Lanie Grant and the National Team of the Week is Alabama.

For the period through Sunday, Dec. 8, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron, Temple guard Tiarra East, Colorado State forward Emma Ronsiek, USC guard JuJu Watkins, and LSU guard Mikaylah Williams. The Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Week is Penn guard Sarah Miller, and for the first time there are two National Teams of the Week, both out of the Southeastern Conference in defending NCAA champion South Carolina and the program returning to prominence in Tennessee.

Last season’s Oscar Robertson Trophy winner and the nation's leading scorer, three repeat selections, a pair of North Carolina teammates and four SEC stars headline the 2023-24 U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Men's All-America Team. The 15-man team includes a player from each of the NCAA Tournament’s four No. 1 seeds and six players who were their conference players of the year.

A pair of Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Year headline the 2023-24 USBWA Women's All-America Team. Iowa's Caitlin Clark, now a four-time All-American, and UConn's Paige Bueckers, earning her second honor, join LSU's three-time selection Angel Reese to bolster a power-packed six-woman first team. In all, 16 players were honored among three teams, in addition to five honorable mention selections.

After leading USC to its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1986, JuJu Watkins has been named the winner of the Tamika Catchings Award as the national freshman player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – For their performances in the period through Sunday, Feb. 4, this week’s five Ann Meyers Drysdale national honorees are Virginia Tech guard Georgia Amoore, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, UConn forward Aaliyah Edwards, Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon, and USC guard JuJu Watkins. The Tamika Catchings freshman award goes to Texas forward Madison Booker and the National Team of the Week is Mississippi State.

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – For their performances in the period through Sunday, Jan. 14, this week’s five Ann Meyers Drysdale national honorees are Florida State guard Sara Bejedi; Middle Tennessee center Anastasii Boldyreva; Iowa guard Caitlin Clark; Kansas State center Ayoka Lee; and Auburn guard Honesty Scott-Grayson. The Tamika Catchings freshman award goes to USC guard JuJu Watkins, and the National Team of the Week is Iowa State.

When it came to choosing the newest recipients for the five USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale national players of the week, the Tamika Catchings freshman award and the team of the week, many outstanding performances continued to occur, some with special achievements. Moreso considering there were a slimmer number of games on a shortened schedule as the NCAA Division l women concluded action on December 22 to head into the Christmas break. For their performances through December 24, this week’s five Ann Meyers Drysdale honorees are College of Charleston guard Alexis Andrews, Saint Joseph’s forward Talya Brugler, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, USC guard/forward McKenzie Forbes and Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Dec. 3.

A new season is bringing a new and expanded look to the weekly women’s and men’s collegiate awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association in handing out five national Ann Meyers Drysdale weekly honors to the women and five Oscar Robertson honors on the men’s side. For their performances in the tumultuous week that ended Sunday, Nov. 12, the season’s first five Ann Meyers-Drysdale honorees are Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, the reigning USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner as the national player of the year; South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso; NC State guard Saniya Rivers; Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen; and Marquette forward Liza Karlen. The Tamika Catchings freshman honor goes to USC guard JuJu Watkins, while Colorado is the National Team of the Week.

For the season’s sixth weekly women’s awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, for games ending Sunday, Jan. 15, Texas guard Shaylee Gonzales is the Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week, Indiana guard Yarden Garzon is the Tamika Catchings freshman recipient and USC is the team of the week.