USC's JuJu Watkins has done her part to take over as the face of women's college basketball since Caitlin Clark moved on to the WNBA. Following Monday night's second-round NCAA tournament win over Mississippi State – which she left early with a serious knee injury - Watkins will finish this campaign having averaged 24.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
Former NFL MVP Cam Newton believes that Watkins, the nation's second-leading scorer in per-game average, is even better than Clark was at Iowa. Clark now plays for the WNBA's Indiana Fever.
"JuJu is a bigger baller than Caitlin Clark. I said it," Newton said last week on his podcast, "4th&1 With Cam Newton." "And it has nothing to do with black and the white, but the statistics say what everybody needs to be knowing. JuJu is a better athlete than Caitlin Clark. That's not to say that Caitlin Clark ain't good because she's (expletive) phenomenal. She's been what the game has been missing, and I love that for her.
"But if I'm speaking facts, that's what the facts is."
Clark is the NCAA's all-time leading scorer. She surpassed LSU's Pete Maravich for that accolade last March and also owns a long list of records. She was the consensus National Player of the Year for two seasons in a row.
Last season, Clark averaged a nation-high 31.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing. Watkins followed behind with 27.1 points per game and was a first-team All-American. Her 920 points as a freshman were a national record.
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This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 11:09 PM.