USC’s Rayah Marshall and JuJu Watkins Named To Jersey Mike’s Naismith Award Watch List

LOS ANGELES — As the No. 21 USC women's basketball team prepares to kick off its 2023-24 campaign, two Trojans are standing tall with national honors as members of the prestigious Jersey Mike's Naismith Watch List. Junior Rayah Marshall is joined by freshman teammate JuJu Watkins on the list, marking the first such accolades for both players. 

Marshall, who also recently earned a place on Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Preseason Watch List, is coming off a sophomore campaign in which she averaged a double-double and set a program record in single-season blocks. 

Also a member of the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team, Marshall is set up for duty in the paint in her junior season at USC. As a sophomore, Marshall made USC history in setting a new program record for single-season blocks with 98 stuffs tallied in 2022-23. She delivered seven in the NCAA First Round, extending her streak to 51 straight games with at least one block while marking up her 13th consecutive multi-block outing. 

With just two seasons under her belt at USC, Marshall ranks No. 4 all-time in career blocks with a total of 169 to date. Marshall delivered 14 double-doubles for the Trojans last season — the most by a Trojan in a season since at least 1999 — and averaged 3.5 blocks per game to rank No. 2 in the nation overall. She finished out the season as USC's third leading scorer with 12.7 points per game, and top rebounder with 11.5 boards per game, and was the first Trojan to average a double-double in an entire season since Tina Thompson in 1996-97. A 2023 All-Pac-12 Team & Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection, Marshall also was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in her sophomore season. After scoring a career-high 33 points in a win at Oregon State, she was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Jan. 2, 2023. Marshall has now earned Pac-12 Preseason Honorable Mention as a sophomore. This past summer, Marshall earned a silver medal with Team USA at the FIBA Women's AmeriCup in Leon, Mexico.

Watkins is no stranger to Naismith honors, having been named the 2023 Naismith National High School Player of the Year coming out of her senior season. Also named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team with Marshall, Watkins is the only freshman on the 2023-24 Jersey Mike's Naismith Watch List. 

Named the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year in back-to-back years and tabbed as USA Today's 2022-23 Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Watkins enters her freshman season at USC coming off a storied high school career at Sierra Canyon High School. She became just the second Trojan to win the Gatorade National award, following in the footsteps of 1990 honoree Lisa Leslie — another Los Angeles native. A 6-2 guard, Watkins also won the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Trophy this year alongside USC men's basketball signee Isaiah Collier, marking the first time in history that the Naismith's top high school basketball awards have both gone to athletes signed on to attend to the same university. Lisa Leslie also was the last USC female to win that award. 

Also this year, Watkins was named the MaxPreps Player of the Year for the second straight year and was selected Co-MVP at the McDonald's All-American Game. The WBCA also named her High School Player of the Year and to the Coaches' All-America Team. In Watkins' senior season at Sierra Canyon, the McDonald's All-American helped lead the Trailblazers to a 31-1 record and the CIF-Southern Section Open Division title while averaging 27.5 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. 

Marshall and Watkins join their Trojan teammates for a trip to Las Vegas, where No. 21 USC opens its season against No. 7 Ohio State in the Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena at 11 a.m. on Monday (Nov. 6).