Seven minutes was all that separated the USC girls’s basketball from Ultimate 4 this previous season.
The Trojans had been led there by girls’s basketball’s latest sensation: freshman guard JuJu Watkins. She’d damaged the nationwide freshman scoring report with 920 factors and was second within the nation in scoring with 27.1 factors per recreation.
By means of bought out gyms, an enormous season opening win over Ohio State and the ultimate season of Pac-12 girls’s basketball as we knew it, Watkins led the Trojans to an Elite Eight berth to face a No. 3 seed.
Nevertheless it wasn’t simply any 3-seed. It was UConn.
Final season’s Elite Eight was billed as a conflict of titans. A title recreation rematch between Iowa and LSU captured a lot of the eye, however UConn and USC drew its personal justifiable share with a viewership of 6.7 million.
On one facet had been the upstart Trojans and Watkins. On the opposite was UConn, as blue as blood will get, led by their very own star lead guard in Paige Bueckers. The game’s future up towards an icon of the previous and current.
However all that have mattered in the long run when the Huskies took these seven minutes to grab and broaden on a lead that obtained them over the end line. It’s a second that stands proud for USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who started working making ready for the subsequent season as quickly as she may.
“As a lot gratitude as you’ve for that season and the issues we did, instantly you flip the web page and say the bar has been raised,” Gottlieb mentioned. “The usual has been raised.”
The Trojans have expertise, they obtained to the Elite Eight in any case. JuJu Watkins’ capacity speaks for itself, however gamers like Rayah Marshall can be coming again. However with second main scorer McKenzie Forbes out of eligibility and off to the WNBA, there have been holes to fill.
To that finish, USC’s workers turned to the switch portal. Not as a rebuilding instrument, as some groups have used it, however to complement the expertise on the roster. In stepped Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen.
Iriafen’s resume speaks for itself, having been on a Stanford crew that received the Pac-12 thrice, being named an AP All-American honorable point out and profitable the Katrina McClain Award as the very best energy ahead within the NCAA.
“She’s gonna be a high three choose within the WNBA Draft,” Gottlieb mentioned. “She’s that good.”
One thing that issues to Iriafen is honoring the legends of girls’s basketball who got here earlier than her. She’s felt the impression of that historical past. When she dedicated to USC out of the portal, she acquired a congratulatory message from Trojan alum Lisa Leslie and usually sees program legend Cheryl Miller at practices.
“You don’t actually get that wherever else,” Iriafen mentioned. “I believe that’s such a blessing to have all these nice folks and legends in our nook.”
The Trojans’ different switch, von Oelhoffen, got here from a profitable Oregon State program with a powerful basketball IQ, positional versatility and a powerful defensive repute.
“She’s very savvy, can play any place,” Gottlieb mentioned. “She’s obtained a thoughts that simply helps the youthful gamers, make all of it match collectively.”
A part of what drew Gottlieb to every participant was match expertise. Iriafen had simply reached the Candy Sixteen with Stanford and von Oelhoffen’s Oregon State crew was proper there within the Elite Eight with USC.
It’s not simply the transfers both. USC is welcoming seven freshman into this system this season with a number of being rated as amongst ESPN’s high gamers within the class of 2024. Gottlieb mentioned she expects rapid contributions as nicely.
She praised three completely different incoming freshmen who will be part of the squad this season. Kennedy Smith’s defensive prowess and talent to play on that finish immediately on the faculty degree, Kayleigh Heckel’s quickness at level guard and mentioned mentioned Avery Howell may find yourself being the Trojans’ finest three level shooter.
“All of the freshmen actually have a precedence impression for us however I believe you’ll see a few them actually, actually get main minutes,” Gottlieb mentioned.
Between Watkins, different returning stars, an skilled switch class and a platoon of proficient freshmen, USC will look to construct on final 12 months’s success and attain even increased.