USC is finally getting healthy again, and the roster moves are starting to show it. JuJu Watkins is back on the court full-time after tearing her ACL. This injury had sidelined her for the Trojans’ entire 2025-26 season even as they still reached the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32. Now, the program has added another familiar face to the staff, bringing back alumna and former Sparks draft pick McKenzie Forbes as a player development assistant.

USC Women’s Basketball announced the hire on X.

“Got a familiar face back on campus!” the caption read. “Fired up to announce Kenzie Forbes will serve as a Player Development Assistant this summer ✌️.”

Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb didn’t hold back on what Forbes brings to the staff.

“It’s been incredible to have Kenzie back with the program in an official capacity this summer as a player development assistant,” Gottlieb said, according to USC Athletics. “Kenzie has always been wise beyond her years in terms of her knowledge of the game, leadership, and ability to think and teach the game.

“There is so much basketball left for her to be played as a pro, but to have her around our team this summer as she prepares to go overseas has been invaluable.”

That praise tracks with what Forbes actually did in her one season at USC. She averaged 14.3 points and 3.3 assists a game, won Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and earned All-Pac-12 honors, the kind of senior season that made her draft stock real.

The WNBA path after that hasn’t gone as smoothly. The Sparks took her 28th overall in the 2024 draft, only to waive her the day before rosters were finalized. The Dallas Wings gave her a training camp shot, but cut her before the 2025 season began.

But Forbes’ overseas career tells a different story. She won a league title with Waverly Falcons in Australia’s NBL1 South while averaging 16 points a game and then played for the the Mainland Pouākai in New Zealand’s Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa.

That experience will be central to Forbes’ addition to the USC Trojans. Led by JuJu Watkins, the Trojans will have plenty of young talent to groom. Behind Watkins and Forbes’ recent addition, that process becomes a bit more convincing ahead of the 2026-27 season. Plus, it also lines up well with where USC’s roster is headed.

JuJu Watkins Details Her Expectations With New Additions for the USC Trojans

The USC Trojans are marking a major shift in their roster balance this season. Without Juju Watkins, most of the pressure in the team shifted to freshman Jazzy Davidson. But this season, Watkins and Davidson will link up for the first time in their careers.

Furthermore, the Trojans are also welcoming some highly touted talents, like Saniyah Hall and Sitaya Fagan, to their rosters. Speaking about it in her recent conversation, Watkins expressed excitement about these incoming talents and the team’s overall outlook.

“For sure, I’m super excited,” Watkins said, per USC Women’s Basketball Media Lab. “We have a lot of great pieces coming in. From Jazzy, Saniyah, I mean, so many great additions to the team. Then we have our returners as well. So, I’m super excited. I think the main thing is just continuing to build our culture, discipline, and really just attacking every day.”

The team’s perfect balance between youth and experience is further fueled by McKenzie Forbes’ addition. The player development assistant can work as the bridge between their high school and collegiate careers.

With Watkins healthy and this much young talent walking in the door USC has a strong case as it’s had in years to finally push past its recent tournament ceiling.