Lindsay Gottlieb and JuJu Watkins are great at what they do, but they also have a desire to connect with other people. Plenty of stars in sports, coaches and athletes alike, seek success on the court and leave it there, not trying to branch out into the community. That’s not true with Gottlieb and JuJu at USC. Cece Clay, at her USC Women’s Basketball Media Lab website, underscored this point in writing about the recent USC Women’s Basketball Kids Camp:
“I asked (USC WBB assistant coach) Courtney (Jaco) what the highlight of camp has been for her, and she said the growth. She said when she first did this camp with Coach Lindsay Gottlieb, they had 32 kids. Now the camp is sold out at 140. Courtney has been there from the beginning with Lindsay, so she has been able to see the progression up close. But it was not just the number that meant something to her. It was seeing the LA community show up, and also seeing people come from outside of LA. There were families from Northern California, different states, and even someone from San Antonio.
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“For Courtney, being an LA kid herself, seeing all of those USC jerseys meant something. She said you could not have told her when she was a player that she would one day see something like this. A gym full of kids wearing USC women’s basketball gear. A gym full of kids who know the players, know the program, and want to be part of what is happening around USC women’s basketball. And of course, Juju is a big part of that. Courtney talked about what it means to see a kid like Juju stay home, represent Los Angeles, make a name for herself, and have that kind of impact on the community.
“You could feel that impact when Juju got there for the afternoon session. The kids knew. They followed her, wanted pictures, wanted to talk to her, wanted to smile with her, and honestly, just wanted a moment. And let me say this about Juju; she is amazing with those kids. It was one of the sweetest things to watch. She was laughing with them, smiling with them, talking to them during breaks, encouraging them at the stations, and just being present. Most people see the basketball side of Juju. They see the buckets, the highlights, and the star power. But watching these kids circle around her and seeing how patient and warm she was with them showed another side of her impact. Those kids look up to her, and you could see it.”
JuJu Watkins is the person who rightly gets the attention from the kids, but Lindsay Gottlieb set the camp in motion and established the priority of connecting with the community. It’s inspiring to see that USC’s head coach and superstar player are doing work which resonates not only in Southern California, but places beyond the region.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Lindsay Gottlieb, JuJu Watkins link USC basketball with outside world
