Juju Watkins is staying home.

One of the top recruits in the class of 2023 announced her decision to play college basketball at the University of Southern California on Tuesday. Watkins grew up just 10 minutes from the USC campus, and her family, she said, was the main reason for staying close to home.

Watkins took great care with her decision, which she announced in front of her friends and classmates at Sierra Canyon.

“I didn’t want to rush this process,” Watkins told ESPN. “A lot of people in my class had already committed before me, and I definitely was taking my time. But I want to make sure it was 1,000% where I wanted to go.”

She chose the Trojans over current women’s basketball powerhouses South Carolina and Stanford, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP Top 25. USC is unranked.

With the Cardinal or the Gamecocks, Watkins would be stepping into a team that is already built for NCAA titles. With USC, she will be a part of the building process. In fact, Watkins will be the central building block for a historic Trojans program that hasn’t been in conversation with elite teams for quite some time.

But Watkins changes that, almost instantly.

There’s no place like home #fighton #committed pic.twitter.com/MWzIvONg58

— Judea (Juju) Watkins (@Jujubballin) November 15, 2022

“Juju is the best and most decorated player of her class both in the country and internationally, ” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a press release. “I could talk for days about her skill set: her shot-making ability, creativity to the rim, dominance on the boards, defensive tenacity and her elite court vision.

“But what I am most excited about is that JuJu the human being is joining the USC family. This is a young woman with transcendent talent, but she is also uniquely motivated. She is about things bigger than herself: her family, her team, her community, her city. Juju had the courage to stay home and is driven to bring USC women’s basketball back to prominence. What a monumental day for all of us in the Trojan family.”

USC was a powerhouse in the 1980s, with All-Americans Cheryl Miller, Paula McGee and Rhonda Windham leading the Trojans to an NCAA championship in 1983. They repeated the feat in 1984.

But recent women’s basketball history has belonged to teams like UConn and Baylor, as well as the last two teams competing with USC for Watkins – South Carolina and Stanford. The Trojans haven’t made an NCAA tournament since 2014, and after being a mainstay throughout the ’80s and most of the ’90s, USC has made just three March Madness appearances since 2000.

Watkins is the kind of talent that can transform a program — or in USC’s case, restore it to its former glory.

The 6-foot-1 guard has been called a generational talent after leading Sierra Canyon to a state title in her junior season with 24.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game, among other accomplishments, including playing for the United States U-17 and U-16 national teams.

Watkins is a versatile guard, which along with her obvious talent makes her the ideal player to build a team around. And Gottlieb is already working on finding pieces to surround Watkins. Four-star recruit Malia Samuels, a point guard from Seattle, joins Watkins in the class of 2023.

It’s also worth noting that nine players on the ESPN Top 100 recruiting list for 2024 are from California. And with Watkins staying home to play for the Trojans, she could encourage more players to join her in staying home.

After a dramatic 3-0 win over crosstown rival Manchester United on Saturday, Manchester City is now leading the WSL, sitting three points clear atop the 2025/26 league table while notably extending their advantage over second-place powerhouse Chelsea FC.

The home side scored all three of their goals in the first half, with defender Rebecca Knaak putting City ahead in the 26th minute before attacker Khadija "Bunny" Shaw added to the lead in the 43rd minute.

Returning from injury with a vengeance, forward Lauren Hemp sealed the deal for the Citizens with the final goal in first-half stoppage time.

"It's so nice to be back," Hemp said postgame. "Today we showed the mentality that I said at the start we needed to show."

While reigning six-time WSL champions Chelsea have yet to lose a match this WSL season, a trio of 2025/26 draws has the Blues now trailing the current eight-win, one-loss record held by Manchester City.

As for United, the WSL third-place Red Devils were without star goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce in Saturday's loss, after the USWNT net-minder suffered a fractured eye socket in November 8th's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.

"She should be fine, it's just trying to make sure she doesn't get another knock in that area," said United manager Marc Skinner, noting that Tullis-Joyce could return as soon as the club's 2025/26 Champions League match against VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

One of this season's NWSL Coach of the Year finalists is moving on up, with Kansas City manager Vlatko Andonovski leaving his position as the Current's head coach to become the club's full-time global sporting director.

Andonovski has been juggling both jobs since joining the Current in October 2023, with the 49-year-old coming off what was arguably his most successful managerial season, leading Kansas City to a first-ever NWSL Shield amidst a record-shattering 2025 campaign.

In his new role, Andonovski will "implement the long-term vision for the club's technical and athletic success, as well as be responsible for player recruitment, roster strategy and scouting."

"It's vital to move into this role to keep growing this club with the aim of being a perennial contender on the global stage and a top developer of talent," Andonovski said in Friday's club announcement.

With the administrative switch in the works prior to last weekend's playoff upset, Andonovski will now join the hiring committee tasked with appointing his successor, while continuing his head coaching duties until Kansas City secures its new manager.

In another front office shift, the Current's head of soccer operations Ryan Dell will immediately take over as the club's GM, with former GM Caitlin Carducci departing the club after one year at the helm.

Michigan women's basketball is on the rise, as the then-No. 14 Wolverines avenged their early 2025 NCAA tournament exit with a stunning 93-54 blowout win over then-No. 18 Notre Dame on Saturday.

Michigan sophomore guard Olivia Olson led the game in scoring with 20 points as the Wolverines put together a true team effort, with six bench players combining for 38 points in the win.

The Big Ten team also dominated defensively, limiting the Fighting Irish bench to just two points while keeping Notre Dame star guard Hannah Hidalgo to a mere 12-point performance.

"We knew exactly what Michigan was going to do," said Notre Dame basketball head coach Niele Ivey afterwards. "We did not have any type of fight defensively, and that's where we have to start."

The Wolverines' victory was especially sweet after Notre Dame ousted Michigan from last season's national tournament with a 76-55 second-round Irish win.

Saturday's fallout also affected this week's AP Top 25 poll, with Notre Dame falling six ranks to No. 24 while Michigan earned an eight-spot bump to No. 6.

After quietly recruiting five-star talents like Olson and Syla Swords in 2024, Michigan — a program that has yet to earn a title at the NCAA or conference level — proved over the weekend that they are entering the 2025/26 season with added depth and experience.

"That's why I committed to Michigan," Swords told JWS at October's Big Ten Media Day. "That's why so many of us came there, because we wanted to be part of something new, part of something that's never been done."

Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman is back in action, subbing into her team's 2025 NWSL semifinal win in Saturday's 90th minute as she continues to rehab a sprained MCL — with questions still remaining surrounding her future with the club.

"It felt amazing," she said afterwards. "If I get 30 seconds, or if I get 90 minutes, it feels great to be out there."

Rodman will hope for more involvement in next weekend's NWSL Championship game, taking the pitch for the Spirit in her final match under contact before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

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The USWNT standout's extension negotiations have apparently made it all the way up to the NWSL commissioner, with Rodman garnering interest from multiple UK clubs willing to outspend the US league's salary cap restrictions.

The NWSL's most recent collective bargaining agreement sets each club's current salary cap at $3.3 million, which will titrate up to $5.1 million by 2030.

"Right now, my head's completely down. It's been so distracting being injured, and that's all I can really think about," Rodman said on Saturday, addressing the reports. "Once we get this championship, then I can start making decisions and figuring out what next year looks like for me."

With rumors swirling around Rodman and her future with the Spirit, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman defended the salary cap this week, telling CBS Sports that the parity the cap fosters is "the reason our league is the most competitive league in the world."