The USC Trojans are on a scorching run at the moment, celebrating on and off the court. Lindsay Gottlieb’s team has added another victory as they beat the Indiana Hoosiers (79-73) to put up a consecutive five-game winning streak. The Trojans had more reasons to celebrate as JuJu Watkins had signed a lucrative sneaker deal with NBA legend LeBron James himself and the Nike brand, worth $92 billion.
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Coach Lindsay Gottlieb was nothing but proud of her student’s achievement. ” You see, everyone is wearing the JuJu NXXT Gen collaboration with LeBron. Just a really special day for the whole team to be part of her shoe release in Watts. It’s obviously been an incredible journey here with JuJu and her family, her team at Nike, and the agency and stuff to have something so first for women’s college basketball, like we’re really proud of that for her.”
“I would add just on the silver lining thing for me. No one would have chosen for that kid to get hurt, right? Like, but the growth in her, like speaking about JuJu, has been phenomenal. And I do think there will be a time when she looks back and says, ‘Well, no one wants an injury, but look at how much I’ve grown. And for our team, right? The way it’s put us in positions to grow and be about all the right things this year,” said Lindsay Gottlieb, drawing reference to how JuJu’s shoe, named Silver Lining, touched a personal chord with the team and its journey lately.
JuJu happens to be the first college athlete to be given creative liberties of a multi-billion-dollar company. The whole sneaker pattern was designed based on her inputs, and that makes her a rarity in college sports.
USC is recovering after a difficult stretch where they lost to Oregon, Minnesota, UCLA, and Maryland. They showed great character to bounce back and reel off consecutive wins. USC is 16-9 now, and the result could have been fairly different had the team not gotten its act together.
Mind you, the Trojans are also without the services of JuJu Watkins, and yet they are not helpless by any means. The team is looking strong, and there is one person on the team who is making her name across the different statistic sheets – Jazzy Davidson.
Jazzy Davidson Keeps on Coming in Clutch
When the team needed inspiration, Jazzy Davidson stepped up. The freshman elevated her game to become one of the best players in college basketball today. Her past seven games have been an incredible testament to her value.
Davidson has averaged 20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks per night. She is equally adept in offense and defense for her side. Davidson leads the team in points (17.2 ppg), rebounds (6.3), assists (4.4), and blocks (2.2), showing they can rely on her.
The Indiana Hoosiers were overwhelmed by Davidson at the Galen Center as she registered 24 pts, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, forcing another monumental win despite the team not playing an aesthetically pleasing game.
“You talk about overdelivering. To be a freshman and carry the load for us and continue to grow, the numbers are really showing it … she’s just capable of doing almost anything on a basketball court,” said Lindsay Gottlieb on Jazzy’s stellar performance.
And that’s one argument that you can’t even debate against. Gottlieb has a great bunch of kids on her hands, and that should give the coach incredible confidence that this team can do it when things turn ugly.