Bigger than Bronny? Hype erupts around Sierra Canyon's Juju Watkins

CAMPUS IS BUZZING erstwhile Alicia Komaki blows her whistle for the archetypal clip of the 2022-23 Sierra Canyon girls hoops season.

It's Oct. 31, and extracurricular the gym, students dressed successful Halloween costumes accessorized with high-end sneakers and decorator backpacks and tote bags hold for their parents to prime them up from the backstage schoolhouse successful Chatsworth, California. A enactment of luxury cars -- Range Rovers, Teslas, BMWs -- wraps astir the gated parking batch arsenic a information defender motions the postulation to halt and go. One aft another, students, eyes glued to their iPhones, thrust distant from the schoolhouse that charges much than $40,000 per twelvemonth successful upper-school tuition and claims students and parents with past names similar Kardashian and James.

Inside the gym, duplicate girls dressed successful achromatic and reddish racecar-inspired jumpsuits locomotion alongside the bleachers. Their dada is Sean "Diddy" Combs. Later, Bronny James walks by. His dada is, well, you cognize who his dada is.

The dependable of manager Komaki's whistle breaks up the bustle and chases the beaming grin from Juju Watkins' face. Whatever was comic is forgotten. It is time.

The No. 1 enlistee successful precocious schoolhouse girls' basketball, who received offers from countless schools and narrowed her choices to South Carolina, Stanford and USC, has been the root of buzz emanating crossed the state for months, years. With a crippled truthful big, truthful strong, truthful versatile, truthful skilled, she has drawn fans, scouts, coaches and pros to her orbit. Last season, the 6-foot-2 phenom was asked to autograph a fan's look with a Sharpie. Last summer, she practiced with James Harden and Kevin Durant. Last month, she signed a woody with Nike and appeared successful a commercialized with LeBron James and her classmate and friend, Bronny.

The champion precocious schoolhouse hoops subordinate successful the nation, and possibly the champion subordinate the precocious schoolhouse crippled has seen successful years, Watkins isn't the kid of a celebrity. She is her ain personage -- whether she believes it oregon not.

"She's a generational talent," Komaki says. "I don't deliberation we're going to spot idiosyncratic other similar her."

And now, astatine the dawn of a caller season, her last precocious schoolhouse season, everyone wants to spot what's next. How volition her elder play unfold? Will she pb Sierra Canyon to different authorities championship? Which assemblage volition she choose?

But for Watkins, a two-time USA Basketball golden medalist and MVP who averaged 24.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.8 steals and 2.0 blocks past play for Sierra Canyon, each that matters is this moment, this practice. The fame and flash and personage each astir her -- each wrong her scope -- mean nothing. As she takes a measurement toward the archetypal squad huddle of the season, her eyes fastener with her coach's eyes. She's ready. For this moment. For this accidental to improve.

"I consciousness similar a batch of radical get truthful caught up successful what's going to hap and what the aboriginal looks like," Watkins says, "that they aren't paying attraction to what needs to hap now."

FOUR WEEKS AGO, connected a Monday morning, Watkins sits successful Komaki's bureau during her escaped play and buries her caput successful her homework.

Every day, the girls of the Sierra Canyon hoops squad mosey their mode into the coach's office. Situated close successful the beforehand of the gym, the agelong and constrictive country is filled with framed images of the assorted title teams, stacks of Nike sneaker boxes and piles of jerseys and gear. It is their spot of refuge during the day. It is their survey hall. It is wherever they get to cognize each different disconnected the court.

This October morning, Komaki sits astatine her table and enjoys a uncommon infinitesimal of stillness. Then, she gets a Twitter notification: "BREAKING NEWS: NIKE FINALIZED NIL ENDORSEMENT DEALS WITH FIVE TOP AMATEUR BASKETBALL PLAYERS." Komaki rapidly reads that Watkins -- on with Sierra Canyon boys hoops prima Bronny James, Iowa constituent defender Caitlin Clark, Stanford defender Haley Jones and apical 2023 defender D.J. Wagner -- had signed a woody with Nike.

"I said, 'Hey Juju, is this real?' And she doesn't adjacent look up," Komaki recalls. "She goes, 'Yep.' Like she already knew what I was going to speech about. I responded, 'Cool. Congrats!' And that was it. It was truthful fitting of everything that she is."

This Nike woody was big. Watkins felt honored. She felt proud. She felt grateful. But erstwhile it comes to large beingness events, the 17-year-old says she reflects connected them for a time and past returns to the gym. "I consciousness similar that each happened due to the fact that of maine being successful the gym and continuing to get better. And so, successful bid for much things to come...I person to get backmost to the gym and support improving my game."

A crippled that already has been lavished with praise.

In February 2022, Watkins became the archetypal precocious schoolhouse jock to motion with Klutch Sports Group for NIL representation. Before claiming the authorities title the pursuing period and being named the Gatorade California Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Watkins was already deemed 1 of the game's aboriginal stars. The summertime earlier her inferior year, she helped the USA U16 nationalist squad triumph a golden medal and was named the astir invaluable subordinate astatine the FIBA Americas U16 championship. Most recently, she won the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup with Team USA and averaged a team-high 13.1 points, successful summation to 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals successful helping USA to a 7-0 grounds and golden medal. She again was named MVP.

"She's not trying to make hype astir her game. She's conscionable trying to marque her crippled better," USA Basketball manager Sue Phillips says. "She's unsocial successful that she has a tiny guardant physique but plays similar a scoring defender but tin besides spot the level and administer similar a constituent guard, rebounds similar a powerfulness forward. When she gets going successful her mid-range, it's astir unguardable due to the fact that of her quality to halt connected a dime and elevate."

Phillips, who has been a manager for 3 decades, adds, "I've coached against Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi, and comparatively erstwhile they were successful precocious school, they were arsenic dominant. They're conscionable caput and shoulders supra their peers, and that's wherever Juju is. She's caput and shoulders supra her peers successful a batch of ways."

It's not mislaid connected Watkins the accidental that she's been fixed astatine a clip wherever she tin capitalize connected NIL. But alternatively of celebrating her ain occurrence successful the space, Watkins humbles herself.

"If I was 1 twelvemonth older than what I americium now, I would not person been capable to execute this successful precocious school. I'm honored and grateful and blessed to beryllium a portion of breaking much barriers and knocking down each the doors truthful that women down us, each these women, younger women tin look up to that and aspire to bash adjacent bigger things oregon beryllium successful the aforesaid position," Watkins says.

When Watkins chooses humility, her champion person and teammate Mackenly Randolph (daughter of two-time NBA All-Star Zach Randolph) reminds her of conscionable however large of a woody these moments are and that it's OK to flex connected them a small bit. The 2 person plentifulness of clip to chat -- Watkins, who has neither car nor license, is simply a regular successful the rider spot of Randolph's achromatic Mercedes SUV.

"I retrieve saying, 'What the f---? You truly conscionable did this!' I was screaming," Randolph says of Watkins' Nike deal. "She was like, 'Everybody's texting maine and blah blah blah.' I was like, 'Girl, you amended unrecorded it up close present due to the fact that you virtually conscionable signed with Nike. Of people everybody's going to beryllium texting you!'"

Less than 2 weeks aft finalizing her Nike NIL deal, Watkins appeared successful a Nike commercialized alongside LeBron, Bronny and Bryce James. On her Instagram page, wherever she has a bluish cheque mark, adjacent to 100,000 followers and lone 28 posts, she shared a fistful of stories and photos from the day.

The caption didn't flex connected her ain accomplishment of landing a nationalist commercial. Instead, Watkins focused connected thanking the James household for the accidental to look alongside them.

"I'm humble due to the fact that I travel from humble beginnings," Watkins says. "I effort not to get excessively distracted by what comes on with this lifestyle. Just support my caput down and absorption connected getting better."

AT THE AGE of 7, Watkins dribbled a hoops for the archetypal clip aft her uncle signed her up for a recreational league astatine Westchester Park, astir 15 minutes from her hometown of Watts, California.

Playing with her small cousin, Watkins experienced the joys of making a basket. She felt the unreserved of contention -- adjacent if it was conscionable against different simple schoolhouse students. She became enamored with the sport.

Watkins' parents, Sari and Robert Watkins, some played hoops successful precocious school. Watkins, the youngest of four, played hoops with her oldest member successful the backyard and said helium helped marque her "tougher" astatine a young age. But determination was ne'er unit for Watkins to play the athletics beyond the driveway. Her parent wanted her to prosecute tennis similar Venus and Serena Williams, but Watkins wasn't interested.

"I had to spell to my ma and beryllium like, 'I privation to bash this.' For her to beryllium like, 'OK, good present fto maine enactment you successful something.' They truly forced maine to truly privation to beryllium superior astir thing due to the fact that their full happening is, 'Don't bash thing if you're not going to beryllium afloat successful it,'" Watkins says.

Watkins knew that erstwhile she asked to play hoops much seriously, beyond conscionable the rec league, she was going to dedicate her full being. "That's thing that I unrecorded by, beryllium truly passionate down what you take to do," Watkins says.

When she was 10, Watkins played her archetypal twelvemonth of question ball, and she struggled to support up due to the fact that she lacked immoderate foundational skills. After sitting connected the seat crippled aft game, Watkins broke down 1 evening connected the car thrust location with her mom. "I retrieve asking her, 'What's wrong?'" Sari says. "And she's like, 'Mom, tin you delight thatch maine however to play basketball? Please, Mom, conscionable delight tin you and Dad thatch maine what to do?'" That night, Watkins' parents sat down astatine the room array and came up with a program for grooming their daughter.

For the adjacent mates of years, Watkins practiced each time with her parents successful the backyard oregon astatine the Watts gym named aft her great-grandfather, Ted Watkins Sr., a civilian rights activistic successful the 1960s. When her dada got disconnected work, he'd instrumentality her to the backyard to sprout jumpers. It started with 100 past 200 past 300 and more. "When we started successful the backyard, it was ever astir the instauration and the repetition," Robert says. "We were ever making definite we were adding to her worth and her skillset. The 1 large happening astir Juju was immoderate we worked connected successful the backyard, she would instrumentality instantly successful the game. She wasn't acrophobic of taking risks."

When she got to seventh grade, things clicked. The small miss crying successful the backseat of her mom's car became a star. "I realized I was bully erstwhile I was 12," Watkins remembers. "I ended up really getting ranked for the archetypal time, close erstwhile I finished that summer."

At that moment, Watkins knew each those sweaty hours astatine the gym and successful the driveway had meaning. "I don't truly cognize however to explicate my endowment due to the fact that I bash enactment successful the work, but honestly, I deliberation immoderate things are conscionable God-given talents," Watkins says. "That's erstwhile I got superior astir the crippled and my emotion for the crippled evolved. It's besides erstwhile I saw my hard enactment wage disconnected and saw a glimpse of however acold hoops could instrumentality me."

As Watkins started to spot her ain potential, others took notice. Parents, players and coaches each wanted to cognize the blueprint for Watkins' success. "It's beauteous simple," Sari says. "Be accordant successful life. We felt honored that radical wanted to cognize however we got her determination truthful quickly, but it was due to the fact that erstwhile she wanted to beryllium superior astir it, we conscionable invested truthful overmuch vigor into helping her physique that. It was a precedence of ours."

In mediate school, folks started approaching Watkins aft games to accidental hullo and present themselves. "It wasn't thing that was like, 'Oh my God.' It was conscionable like, 'Oh wow, that's dope that radical travel up to maine and cognize my name.' I took that arsenic much substance to conscionable adjacent turn adjacent further and person that interaction connected radical wherever they're knowing my sanction and knowing what I do." Her parents focused connected staying contiguous and not fixating connected the increasing buzz surrounding their daughter. "When radical started to travel up to her, we didn't privation to truly absorption connected that due to the fact that we were looking astatine it from the position connected improving her crippled and making definite she was a bully person. The different worldly wasn't connected our minds."

After 2 years of starring astatine Windward School, a college-preparatory schoolhouse successful Los Angeles, Watkins transferred to Sierra Canyon, astir 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, for her inferior year. Since mediate school, Watkins had been drawn to Sierra Canyon, and her parents wanted her to find happiness and diverseness not conscionable connected the tribunal but successful the classroom. After applying, Watkins received her acceptance, and Sierra Canyon offered fiscal assistance. Shortly after, the Watkins household moved from their hometown of Watts to a bluish Los Angeles suburb person to the celebrated campus.

"We were conscionable looking astatine it from the position of, 'What's the champion determination for her to beryllium happy?'" Sari says. "And we were hyper-focused connected making the close determination for her. For years, she had already had personage enactment and started to physique her ain brand, truthful determination wasn't truly a civilization shock. But it was absorbing erstwhile the archetypal time of school, she came location and said Bronny was successful her people oregon erstwhile we recovered retired immoderate of the celebrities' kids that spell there. But truly for us, it was conscionable astir supporting our girl and making definite she was happy. The different worldly didn't matter."

Once she stepped ft connected the Sierra Canyon court, the afloat "Juju Watkins effect" kicked in.

In December 2021, astatine the McDonalds Classic successful El Paso, Texas, fans filled the stands for Sierra Canyon's opening crippled against Pebble Hills. They made signs for Watkins. They painted their faces with her fig plastered connected their cheeks. They yelled cheers and chants for Watkins for the duration of the game. In her Sierra Canyon debut, she had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks successful an 87-37 win. After the game, a young miss asked Watkins to instrumentality a representation with her. She past showed Watkins that she enactment it arsenic her screensaver.

A period later, portion playing successful Alaska, a instrumentality rushed to Watkins aft a crippled and asked her to motion the broadside of his look with a Sharpie.

"I've been astir the apical players successful the country, and I've ne'er seen thing similar it," says Komaki, who has coached astatine Sierra Canyon for 11 years. "She gets Bronny-type attention. We had to escort her retired of arenas due to the fact that she was getting that mob-like attention, which is ace awesome, fantastic. We'll spot what happens this twelvemonth successful the places we spell and the radical we encounter."

For Watkins, it's an "honor" to beryllium capable to motion someone's look and beryllium someone's screensaver.

"But I don't know, I consciousness similar I'm inactive not wherever I...I conscionable consciousness similar there's truthful overmuch country for growth. When I look astatine players similar LeBron and Candace Parker, the greats, that's what I aspire to be. This is cool, but I person to get there. I ne'er truly effort to instrumentality things excessively overmuch into consideration," Watkins says.

SNEAKERS SQUEAK AMID the dependable of bouncing balls arsenic Watkins pairs up with Randolph for a first-day-of-practice drill. Randolph dribbles the shot portion Watkins plays defense. The extremity is to marque it to the different sideline without losing possession. Watkins presses Randolph, who dribbles the shot betwixt her legs arsenic Watkins' arms question successful lockstep with her little body. With each antiaircraft question from Watkins, Randolph pivots rapidly to maneuver her assemblage distant and keeps her dribble.

Now, it's Watkins' crook to play offense.

"Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball," Randolph yells. Anything to effort to propulsion Watkins off. Watkins goes down her back, forcing Randolph to retreat. A dribble betwixt her legs, and she's much than halfway crossed the court. Less than 2 feet away, a teammate loses possession of her ball. As it rolls implicit to Watkins, she rapidly moves her assemblage to debar a collision. The full time, she maintains possession. In 7 seconds, Watkins makes it to the different end.

When they reason the one-on-one drill, Watkins and Randolph abstracted and ticker their teammates who are inactive attempting to finish. Randolph powerfully claps her hands and raises her dependable to enactment them. Watkins' eyes intently ticker each question of her teammates, and she echoes Randolph's encouragement.

Throughout the practice, Randolph and Izela Arenas (daughter of three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas) emphatically outcry demands similar "rebound" and words of encouragement similar "Let's go, guys."

Watkins remains successful the aforesaid spot she started: locked in. Her absorption ne'er wavering. Her elaborate movements ne'er lacking. The lone clip Watkins raises her dependable supra the remainder is during a drill erstwhile a teammate doesn't rebound. "Lock in, bro!" Watkins cries out.

This past summer, NBA prima James Harden came to Sierra Canyon to signifier with Watkins. During that practice, Watkins observed Harden's habits.

"He is truthful intelligence successful however helium plays the crippled and adjacent practices. He practices similar he's successful the game," Watkins says. "I knew that I wanted to prime up that wont from him. So present I'm like, 'OK signifier similar you're successful an existent game. Talk to yourself. Get successful the bushed that is capable to construe into the game.' And that's nary substance what I'm doing successful practice."

With 30 minutes of signifier left, Sierra Canyon runs its halfcourt offense. Komaki doesn't expect perfection. There are moments erstwhile decisions aren't made rapidly capable -- and moments erstwhile the incorrect determination is made excessively quickly.

Watkins stands astatine the 3-point enactment to the close of the basket. She makes shots and passes wrong the offense's earthy flow. Not erstwhile does she sprout conscionable to shoot. Her hoops IQ is connected afloat display. Her assurance is connected afloat display.

Then, she misses a 3. A flimsy caput shake, and she's backmost to it. She knows that she'll miss galore much shots this season. How she responds is much important than anything. The adjacent possession, she makes the 3. The adjacent 2 times she's passed the ball, she doesn't miss. Every time, she pumps her hands arsenic the shot floats done the basket.

"I consciousness similar a batch of radical confuse maine for this ace egotistical idiosyncratic due to the fact that of what I've already done arsenic a player, and past they conscionable maine and they're like, 'Whoa, you're similar this?' Because connected the tribunal I get carried away, a small flex present and there. I'm conscionable truthful locked in. I don't adjacent recognize what I'm doing. It's conscionable hoops brings retired that assurance successful me, occurrence successful me, that I ne'er person disconnected the court," Watkins says. "It's similar I'm a full antithetic person."

WATKINS PULLS HER HAIR into a precocious bun, laces up her sneakers and heads retired the door. She had returned from her last authoritative schoolhouse sojourn hardly an hr earlier. There's little than 2 weeks until the aboriginal signing play opens, and Watkins knows that it's crunch time.

"I'm a small precocious to the party," says Watkins, who plans to denote her determination aboriginal adjacent week. "I program connected making definite 1,000 percent that this is decidedly what I privation to bash and wherever I privation to spell due to the fact that these are astir apt going to beryllium the astir important years of my life."

It'll instrumentality an hr to get to the Lynwood High School gym from her home, and Watkins utilizes the clip to get locked in. Right now, the authoritative visits and signing time tin wait. It's clip to play. Sierra Canyon is inactive weeks distant from its archetypal authoritative game, but they volition instrumentality connected a bid of games successful the Lynwood Fall Classic against different programs passim Southern California.

In the archetypal crippled against Lynwood, Watkins curls up the sideline and takes a shovel walk astatine the 3-point line. With her defender connected her hip, Watkins dribbles erstwhile and darts toward the basket. Her defender frantically tries to get betwixt Watkins and the hoop. Watkins dribbles again, hopping distant from the handbasket and beyond the arc. Her defender's near ft slides, and her close manus touches the tribunal arsenic she tries to support her balance.

It's excessively late.

The assemblage gasps arsenic Watkins elevates and lets fly, her close manus freezing successful a cleanable goose neck. The shot spins, glances disconnected the rim and drops done the bottommost of the hoop. Watkins turns, gives a small shimmy with her arms, and runs backmost to play defense. Her look lights up with a smile.

The upcoming play volition beryllium astir moving backmost a title for Sierra Canyon, but it's besides astir Watkins' senior-year tour. It's astir wherever the champion subordinate successful the state volition instrumentality her talents for college. And it's astir conscionable however large of an interaction the Watts autochthonal tin person connected the women's game.

"This year, I truly privation to permission my people connected the Sierra Canyon hoops programme and the world," Watkins says. "Just adjacent it retired truthful beardown that wholly ties my communicative together. A batch of radical person told maine this is unrealistic, but I privation to person an undefeated twelvemonth and I privation to mean a triple double.

"What bash they say? Aim for the stars onshore connected the moon? That's what I program connected doing."