Juju Watkins Passes Caitlin Clark: Fastest To 1,000 Points
USC sophomore basketball prodigy, Juju Watkins, continues to impress. Entering her game today against Santa Clara, Watkins needed just 16 points to reach 1,000 points in her collegiate career. She finished the game with 22 points, becoming the fastest Power 5 Women's player to reach the milestone.
Clark set the record in her sophomore year as well, when she dropped 44 points against Evansville on January 2, 2022. It took her 40 games to hit the 1,000 point plateau, one game faster than Kelsey Mitchell (Clark's teammate on the Indiana Fever), and 4 games faster than Chennedy Carter, who plays for the Chicago Sky. Watkins only needed 38 games.
There is something to being a volume shooter. Both Clark and Watkins had outstanding freshman years. Clark averaged 26.6 points per game, and scored 799 total points. She took 564 shots, making 47.2% from the field and 40.6% from three. Watkins freshman season, she averaged 27.1 points per game, scored 920 points, but took 200 more shots. She made 40.1% from the field and 31.9% from three.
Clark also became the only player to score 1,000 points in back to back seasons, when she scored 1,055 as a junior (2022-23) and 1,234 points as a senior (2023-24). Watkins may come gunning for those records as well, unless the WNBA new CBA allows players to leave school early for the W. Clark graduated after scoring 3,951 career points, and averaging 28.4 points per game for her career.
This isn't to say that one player is better than the other. They are both elite talents, and Watkins is highly likely to follow Clarks' path to the WNBA as the number one overall pick. For now, the Trojans are 4-0, eyeing a championship, and Watkins is averaging 21.3 points per game on the season.