Without JuJu Watkins, USC basketball maintains its NCAA title hopes.

When Lindsay Gottlieb looks back on this past basketball season, it’s impossible not to think about the pressure she’s under. The spotlight has been on USC brightly since Day 1 last fall, and it seems like the entire hoops world is waiting for JuJu Watkins to lift the Trojans to the national title. Everyone on the show felt that weight. Even the USC coach.

“Everyone felt like we were a national championship contender,” Gottlieb said.

She now admits that there are lessons she has learned through that crucible, and there are a lot of things she could do differently. Although no one could have planned for Watkins’ knee bending awkwardly underneath her in the second round of the NCAA Tournament — or for the injury to rule her out of the entire following season at USC, throwing a huge wrench in the Trojans’ path.

Now, as USC prepares for a season without its star, there is no such pressure. With the Trojans’ season ending Tuesday against New Mexico State, the lights will be busy shining elsewhere. Because as far as the world of college hoops is concerned right now, with Watkins sidelined, there are no outside predictions for the Trojans starting this season.

A year ago, Gottlieb had to confront the hype head-on. “It would have been foolish to ignore [expectations]She said.

But this year? “I think it would be foolish to do anything but ignore them.”

After ascending to the Elite Eight last March — partly without Watkins — USC was voted No. 18 in an initial Associated Press Top 25 poll. Gottlieb dismissed preseason polls as largely “educated guesses” when asked last month about the Trojans’ rankings. However, some fans saw it as disrespectful after a season in which USC lost just four games and won the Big Ten regular season title.

But the reality is that the Trojans open the season with far more questions than answers. Not only did USC lose Watkins, it lost six of its top seven scorers from the Elite Eight team to either injury, the WNBA or the transfer portal. It has no proven players on the forward line, with a committee of four seniors expected to open the season. Not to mention one of the toughest schedules in the country awaits them, with four games against the top three preseason seeds: UCLA, South Carolina and Connecticut.

“There’s still a lot unknown about what it was like at this time last year,” said Gottlieb, who is entering her fifth season as coach. “And this is me, after my job stopped.”

This work begins with Watkins — or rather, the huge void her absence leaves on both ends of the floor.

Gottlieb has no illusions that someone will replace the star. Even if it’s tempting to connect the dots on freshman Jazzy Davidson, the country’s top prospect in 2025.

“No one fills JuJu’s shoes. They’re very unique shoes,” Gottlieb said. “But the fact that Jazzy could come onto our show and actually leave a really unique and amazing impression on everyone is pretty surreal.

“It’s really good. I’ll start with that. It’s good at the next level.”

How quickly that talent translates onto the field could determine the direction of USC’s season. But Davidson has no interest in being compared to the Trojans’ latest prospect, who immediately generated buzz as a freshman.

“She’s JoJo, she’s a generational player,” Davidson said. “I think we both do separate things. She’s been very helpful in my transition. But I’ve really come in to help the team win, in any way I can.”

No one doubts that she will do so. Indeed, the defensive prowess of the freshmen in particular made a practical impression.

“Her length is unbelievable,” sophomore guard Kennedy Smith said. Its wingspan is… So long. “She blocks shots all the time.”

Her offense should undoubtedly follow, considering Davidson is the all-time leading scorer in Oregon State Class 6A women’s basketball history.

But it remains to be seen how much the Trojans will have to rely on their new star early in the season, especially with tough non-conference tilts looming against Connecticut and South Carolina.

Regardless of who takes the lead offensively, USC will need Smith to make a big leap in that regard if the Trojans hope to continue in the Big Ten competitive race.

Already a dominant defender in her senior season, Smith was an inconsistent shooter from the perimeter as a freshman. Now, having captured gold with Team USA at the FIBA ​​AmeriCup, Smith said she’s “really in the bag” as a sophomore.

“I feel like in my role, I have to be more consistent,” she said. “But I feel like everyone on this team has value and everyone can get a bucket if they want to.”

USC will need all hands on deck if it has any hope of defending its Big Ten title. Kara Dunn, who transferred to Georgia Tech, will be crucial in the backcourt for the Trojans as their most consistent threat from three-point range. USC also needs someone to emerge from a senior quartet that includes Yakia Melton, Laura Williams, Vivian Iochoko and Lithuanian import Gerda Raulusititi, none of whom have scored more than two points per game playing college basketball.

These questions will need to be answered soon enough. But for anyone inside the program, expectations won’t change either way.

“The goal is still the same, which is a national championship,” Smith said. “It’s just navigating with what we have.

“Our situation is not bad at all.”