SPOKANE, Wash. — The tenacious freshman stared forward blankly, her eyes welling with tears, the shedding USC locker room silent round her.
Kennedy Smith gave all the pieces she had within the wake of JuJu Watkins’ damage. She helped information USC previous Kansas State within the Candy 16, pacing the group in scoring. And within the Elite Eight, the Trojans had entrusted her, their finest on-ball defender, with chasing Paige Bueckers, the Connecticut star and sure No. 1 choose within the WNBA draft.
But it surely wasn’t sufficient. Not with out Watkins. And within the final gasps of a season that when appeared destined for one thing particular, that was a very troublesome tablet for Smith and her teammates to swallow. Quickly sufficient, they knew, their group would look completely completely different. Kiki Iriafen, after an All-American season at USC, is off to the WNBA. Rayah Marshall, after 4 memorable years, is following Iriafen, whereas Talia von Oelhoffen, their place to begin guard, and Clarice Akunwafo, their defensive stalwart off the bench, exhausted their eligibility.
Many questions on the trail ahead for USC are nonetheless to be answered. Not the least of which is whether or not Watkins sits out all of subsequent season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her proper knee. However hidden beneath the heartbreak of a event run minimize brief is hope for a future with Smith and her fellow freshmen holding down the fort till Watkins is wholesome sufficient to return.
“The freshmen, their performance … was unbelievable,” von Oelhoffen mentioned Monday evening. “A preview of what’s to come in the next few years.”
The trio of guards Smith, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel definitely gave each purpose this March to imagine they’re certain for larger roles subsequent season. Howell already had emerged as a vocal chief whereas main the Trojans in three-point taking pictures (40%). Heckel served as a spark plug off the bench. And Smith established herself as an elite defender who might rating in bunches if the sport referred to as for it.
Smith’s highschool coach, Stan Delus, is aware of she’s able to rather more. He’d seen it in her at Etiwanda Excessive and he expects to see it once more subsequent season at USC.
“She can score in so many more ways than she shows at USC right now,” Delus informed The Occasions final month.
USC guard Kennedy Smith celebrates as Mississippi State guard Chandler Prater watches throughout the Trojans’ second spherical NCAA event win on March 24 on the Galen Middle.
(Jessie Alcheh / Related Press)
How rather more Smith and her fellow freshmen will likely be requested to shoulder that scoring load is determined by what occurs within the coming weeks. With Watkins out for the foreseeable future, the Trojans are anticipated to be lively within the switch portal.
Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, anticipated to be the highest point-guard prospects within the WNBA draft, surprised the basketball world this week by getting into the portal as a substitute. Ta’Niya Latson, who led the nation in scoring this season at Florida State, is also in quest of a brand new group. Alongside Watkins, both would make the Trojans’ backcourt arguably probably the most dynamic in girls’s faculty basketball.
However USC’s most evident wants are within the frontcourt, the place Iriafen and Marshall received’t be simply changed. USC is slated to carry again only one ahead with enjoying expertise — 6-foot-3 freshman Vivian Iwuchukwu, and she or he averaged solely 2.4 factors and 1.6 rebounds in 18 video games.
Wisconsin’s Serah Williams, the Huge Ten defensive participant of the 12 months in 2024, would be the presumptive high possibility amongst forwards within the portal after she averaged 19.2 factors, 9.8 rebounds, and a couple of.3 blocks. Past her the pickings have been fairly slim amongst rim-protecting bigs within the portal.
USC freshman guards Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell greet followers because the go away the courtroom after beating Kansas State within the Candy 16 on Saturday in Spokane, Wash.
(Jenny Kane / Related Press)
One dynamic participant is already set to hitch the Trojans. Jazzy Davidson, the No. 3 total highschool prospect within the 2025 graduating class, will give the Trojans one other promising younger possibility on the wing. How huge of a task she’ll play immediately stays to be seen. However as she’s confirmed the final two seasons, Gottlieb has no downside placing freshmen in essential positions.
“Freshmen coming into a program like ours … it’s not, you know, learn on the fly, and, we’ll give you a year or two to figure out how to win,” Gottlieb mentioned. “They had to know how to fit into a winning team right away.”
That match was by no means unsure for USC’s freshmen this March. The query now, because the Trojans trudge forward with out Watkins, is the place USC may be subsequent March, with Smith, Howell and Heckel presumably main the best way.
“They’re winners,” Gottlieb mentioned Monday evening, “and I think that’s what they showed at this stage. And I just know they’re going to keep getting better, which is unbelievable.”
