Watkins and Davidson anchor USC as six newcomers join the roster

USC is building its preseason around a returning core and six newcomers, with JuJu Watkins preparing to rejoin a group that developed without her last season. The Trojans enter the fall ranked No. 3 in the AP preseason poll and will host California in an exhibition on October 25.

Watkins redshirted the 2025-26 season after the right ACL injury she suffered in 2025. Her anticipated return gives USC a different outlook, but preseason expectations do not establish her minutes or medical availability for a particular game.

Jazzy Davidson returns after earning national freshman-of-the-year honors from the USBWA and WBCA last season. Kennedy Smith also returns after an All-Big Ten defensive selection. Together, they give coach Lindsay Gottlieb experienced players to help organize a roster that has changed around them.

The new group includes freshmen Saniyah Hall, Sara Okeke, Sitaya Fagan and Alesia Talkouskaya. Transfers Ryann Bennett, from UC Davis, and Pania Davis, from Florida State, complete the six-player incoming class listed by USC.

In original media-day reporting published October 17, USC Annenberg Media's Kiera Baker described the team's efforts to build chemistry as Watkins works toward her return. Interviews with players and Gottlieb centered on getting the newcomers comfortable with one another and with the returning players. That work will help determine how a promising collection of individual players functions as a team.

The California exhibition is scheduled for 2 p.m. Pacific at Galen Center, with coverage on Big Ten Plus. It offers an early chance to see the new combinations, though the result will not count toward USC's regular-season record.

The regular season begins November 2 against UNLV in the Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. USC's first regular-season home game follows November 8 against Utah State. Those opening dates give Gottlieb an early opportunity to see how the returning players and newcomers share the court.