USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, sophomore guard JuJu Watkins and senior forward Kiki Iriafen jumped on a plane and traveled to Chicago for Big Ten Media Day Wednesday.
Gottlieb spoke to the media and television hosts about everything from the new-look conference and her team to coaching Watkins and bringing in Iriafen from Stanford and Oregon State transfer guard Talia von Oelhoffen.
“The national brand has impacted us greatly,” Gottlieb said. “I think a little bit with the resurgence of our program connected together has allowed us to get into homes and be more recognizable across the country, but I would say the No. 1 thing is the exposure and the way that it’s impacted us and made us a little bit more national.”
More eyes equals more exposure. Watkins earned an array of All-American selections and Freshman of the Year honors last season. Now she’s ready to take the next stop.
“She’s unreal to be around every single day. It starts with her effort and care factor,” Gottlieb said. “I’ve told this story before. Her first workout freshman year was a conditioning workout. She dove across the line to make her time. We’re like, ‘Okay, we think we’ve got something.’ When your best player and the one that gets the most attention also puts in that type of effort and has that type of care for the program and her teammates, I think that gives you something special. She’s electric.
“She’s always trying to improve, and I think Big Ten fan bases and opponents will be excited because she just brings a level of intensity that makes the game better.”
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Gottlieb has spoken about Watkins’ work ethic being unique. She’s seen a lot from Watkins away from the spotlight as well as under the bright lights.
“There was so much great last year, but that doesn’t come without some struggle, right?” she said. “The amount of weight that she carried on her shoulders. And so for me, if I can just create an environment where she gets to show up as herself and step into her greatness, and the same with Kiki, then I’ve done my job. I don’t know what it’s like to be a potential No. 1 draft pick or the best player in the country, but if I can create an environment where they can be them, then I’ve done my job. … I got to let her figure it out herself and also work with them when I can, but I don’t want to dim their light in any way. So I try and let the players lead me as much as I lead them.”
Iriafen isn’t just a familiar player from the Pac-12 Conference that was in the portal. Iriafen was the Power Forward of the Year last year, but she’s also a product of Studio City (Calif.) Harvard-Westlake, so it made sense to bring her back to Southern California.
“I think I just really felt at home with the girls on my team, with my teammates, with the coaching staff,” Iriafen said about joining the team. “They were real with me from Day 1 and didn’t say things that I wanted to hear. They just told me what I needed to hear. And I think, you know, it’s the place to be. It’s in L.A., I’m from Los Angeles, I have great people around me, and I think they’ll really help me develop and get better for the next level. And I think we have a really good shot at contending for the national championship.”
Gottlieb and the team looked for specific players to add. It had to be players that fit the culture with a mindset to help them get to the next level.
“Well, first, it starts with the culture. Even before JuJu got to us, we tried to put the things in place that make for a winning program that attract the right people,” Gottlieb said. “Going into the portal, we didn’t need to rebuild. We felt like, ‘Okay, how can we add to that?’ And at this point, I think it says a lot that Kiki, who’s a national power forward of the year, who is a WNBA top pick, says, ‘Okay, I want to partner with JuJu. I want to be part of this.’ JuJu helped recruit her. I think it speaks more to the culture we’re building, and that’s how you get the right people. Players always recruit the right players, even more than I could because they’re the faces of our program, and I think it says a lot that they would want to play together and with their teammates. And that’s how you build a program.”
The additions from the portal, and bringing in seven freshmen in the 2024 class, are a part of moving the team in the right direction. With the foundation laid down, USC can build on its successes of last season. Its trip to the Elite Eight was the first for the school in three decades, but that is only the start.
“The moment that Elite Eight game ended … from that moment, the bar had been raised. The standard was raised,” Gottlieb said. “We all kind of said, ‘Okay, now the goal is a Final Four [or] national championship.’ So the first thing we did with the returning players [is] talk about how do we get better, but we also said, as a staff, we need to get better, and a key piece of that was going into the portal and getting the two players we felt would make us better. We didn’t need to rebuild — we needed to add, and we haven’t shied away from expectations. I think it’s something that we embrace, I think we have the maturity of players to still bring joy and competition every day, on a day-to-day, but have this big goal of [wanting] to win a national championship. And we’re not afraid of that expectation.”
Watkins said she has worked on building off that success this offseason by improving on some of her weaknesses and adding to her game.
“There’s always ways to get better and always ways to improve, so I think for me, the biggest thing was, how [can] I be the best for this team?” she said. “Coming through the summer, I worked a lot on my pace and making the right reads.”
Iriafen, a player already known for her defensive prowess, has continued to add elements to her defensive profile, but she’s also trying to become a more well-rounded offensive weapon after leading Stanford in scoring at 19.4 points per game while shooting 54.6 percent from the field.
“Trying to get my steals up, be a better perimeter defender and being able to switch one through five,” she said. “And then again, stretching to the perimeter, so trying to get my three-point shot working, so we can bring it out this season.”
USC has been working on its chemistry off the court in addition to working on its game on the court. Gottlieb wants an organic relationship throughout the team.
“In this era of rosters being a little more fluid and there’s more change every year, a lot of these young players know each other before they come. A lot of those relationships are formed because there’s a like-minded, ‘I might want to go here and do this with you and let’s see if we can do this together.’ A lot of it begins before they get there,” she said. “It has to be organic, and it has to be all the time. It’s not one big bonding trip and then you forget about it for a couple of months. It’s every day. Us having the pulse of our teams and what do they need. Do they need time together off the court? Do we need to watch film and attack something basketball-wise? I think it’s that constant pulse of what the team needs and what you are about, and if the players have bought into that, that’s when it becomes very organic.”
A strong culture, a high level of chemistry, and good players provide the elements for a great team, and in the Women of Troy’s case, being the Big Ten conference’s preseason No. 1-ranked team. In addition to its ranking, Watkins and Iriafen were selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team with Watkins being selected as the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year.
“We want people to come watch us and be like, ‘wow, this is an exciting team,'” Iriafen said about the identity they’re looking to have. “We’re kind of playing into that Lakers, Showtime [era of basketball]. Definitely like fast-paced, high-energy, relentless. You don’t want to play against USC.”
The season begins Nov. 4 in Paris, France when USC takes on Ole Miss, and its Big Ten debut is in Eugene, Ore. Dec. 7 when the Ducks host the cardinal and gold.
