USC basketball star JuJu Watkins won't take the court this year, with the junior guard announcing Sunday that she'll miss the entire 2025/26 NCAA season while continuing to recover from injury.

"These last few months have been filled with a lot of healing, rest, and reflection," Watkins posted to social media on Sunday. "Following the advice of my doctors and trainers, I will sit out this season and fully focus on continuing to recover so I can come back to the game I love."

Watkins tore her right ACL in the second-round of the 2024/25 NCAA tournament, just days after earning her second straight All-American nod.

The reigning Player of the Year's 23.9 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game were instrumental in leading the Trojans to the 2024/25 Big Ten regular-season title.

Though ACL recovery timelines can vary, recent history has shown that taking a measured, methodical approach can make an athlete's return even more powerful — an outcome that Watkins is clearly banking on.

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While Watkins remains key to the longterm USC game plan, the Trojans' 2025/26 season hopes are still very much alive on the heels of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

That said, with the additional loss of USC alums Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall to the WNBA, there are big shoes to fill on the roster — though the Trojans did snag this year's No. 1 high school recruit Jasmine "Jazzy" Davidson to boost their lineup this season.

"While we will certainly miss her impact on the court, [Watkins] continues to play a vital role in our program as a leader and teammate," said USC manager Lindsay Gottlieb. "The strength and maturity she has shown through this process is a reflection of who she is, and we know the Trojan Family will continue to rally behind her."

The AP dropped the 2024/25 All-America first, second, and third teams on Wednesday, offering few surprises as top names from star programs dominated the lineup.

Sophomores JuJu Watkins (USC) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) both earned first-team honors for the second straight year, becoming just the third and fourth players to ever snag the honor in their first two seasons. They now join former college standouts and WNBA champions Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) and Maya Moore (UConn) in that elite club.

UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Texas’s Madison Booker, and UCLA’s Lauren Betts also earned first-team recognition, with the AP’s roster aligning with last week’s National Player of the Year shortlists.

Watkins, Bueckers, and Betts are the only unanimous first-team selectees, with Bueckers also making a splash by becoming just the 12th-ever player to earn an All-America nod for the third time.

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March Madness tournament features all 2024/25 All-Americans

Program success and individual achievement strode hand-in-hand across the All-America selections, with all first-team players representing squads seeded No. 3 or higher in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The second and third teams were more varied, though all players still feature on the 2025 March Madness bracket.

The second team tapped LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, UConn’s Sarah Strong, Florida State’s Ta'niya Latson, Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, and Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles.

Meanwhile, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, TCU’s Hailey Van Lith, LSU's Flau'Jae Johnson, Iowa State's Audi Crooks, and Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes earned third-team recognition.

Notably, defending champion and No. 1 seed South Carolina failed to see any player named an All-American, though four Gamecocks did receive honorable mentions.

While awards are a small part of a season's story, the 2024/25 AP All-America teams do reflect a year filled with big stars and even bigger parity.

UCLA center Lauren Betts shoots a free throw during a 2025 Big Ten tournament game.
UCLA star Betts is one of three unanimous first-team All-Americans. (Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The 2024/25 AP All-America teams

First Team:

Second Team:

Third Team:

Honorable Mention: