Sunday morning won’t be as bright as Stanford’s fans would have liked. Just as they were coming to terms with the departure of Cameron Brink and the Hall of Famer coach Tara VanDerveer from their basketball program, the transfer of their best player this past season Kiki Iriafen now dealt a major blow to their championship aspirations.

Although, this comes not as a surprise because earlier this month, the McDonald’s All-American decided to enter the transfer portal. The enthralling part of this development is that fans get to see her play alongside USC’s sensation JuJu Watkins.

The 6-foot-3 forward is coming home. After three illustrious seasons with the Cardinals, Iriafen will now don a Trojan jersey as she makes her way to Los Angeles. One of the projected lottery picks in the 2025 WNBA draft, Kiki’s decision to leave Stanford was just after Tara VanDerveer’s retirement. The Pac-12’s most improved player will be a part of a locker room that has the likes of senior center Rayah Marshall, incoming freshman Kennedy Smith, and national freshman of the year JuJu Watkins.

Kiki Iriafen confirmed her move while talking to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. Following this, the renowned columnist and reporter broke the news on his social media handles. His X post read, “Former Stanford F Kiki Iriafen — the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft — has committed to the USC Trojans, she tells ESPN. Iriafen will return to her LA home to team with Juju Watkins on a national title contender for coach Lindsay Gottlieb.”

Soon after this announcement, college basketball fans couldn’t keep their calm and laid it all out on X. 

Psyched-out fans eager for Kiki Iriafen to pair with JuJu Watkins

The reactions didn’t take long to surface after this monumental announcement. Seemingly, fans couldn’t keep their calm and wanted to see the collaboration of Iriafen and Watkins on the hardwood. 

One X user was convinced that the inclusion of Kiki Iriafen makes the Trojans a super team. He commented, “So they making superteams in women’s college basketball now.”

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For some, this decision will make the USC basketball program more formidable. Moreover, there were also predictions of them being the national champions in 2025. One fan expressed this by writing, “USC TROJANS Woman basketball NCAA 2025 Champions.”

Watkins and Iriafen have a combined scoring average of 46.5. No wonder, people want to see them together. Captioning both as greats, another supporter said, “Two fine great ballers on one team is must watch tv.”

While for many, it was surprising news as this was not something they would have expected. One comment was, “I DIDNT SEE THAT COMING.”

Meanwhile, some were excited for a UConn vs USC clash. Probably because the Huskies have their own superteam which includes Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, and KK Arnold. The comment read, “UCONN vs USC going to go so crazy.”

The hopes for a national title just got a huge boost. The talent and depth that the USC Trojans have surely made them the team to beat next season. Can JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen function as everyone is expecting them to be? We’ll have to wait and see.