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USC guard JuJu Watkins has signed a historic multi-year deal with Fanatics. The deal makes her the first female college athlete to sign such a contract.
According to the Sports Business Journal, the deal “includes autographed memorabilia (photos and basketballs), as well as trading cards that will include Watkins’ autographs and game-worn items.”
In addition to that, Fanatics Collectibles is now “able to feature Watkins in her USC uniform on its cards” and the first standard issue will appear in the 2025 Bowman University Chrome Basketball series. That set of cards is expected to be released on April 3, 2025. The first Bowman card of Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg, who signed a similar deal with Fanatics in January, will also appear in that set.
𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋: We’re excited to announce that we’ve signed an exclusive trading card & memorabilia deal with JuJu Watkins. pic.twitter.com/3pj4VTAvoG
— Topps (@Topps) March 14, 2025
This news comes just a day after JuJu Watkins and her coach at USC, Lindsay Gottlieb, were named as semifinalists for Coach of the Year and Player of the Year by the Naismith Trophy Awards.
“She pushes me to be great. She understands my vision and the standard that I hold myself to, so we really connect with each other, and I’m grateful to have her,” Watkins said about Gottlieb after surpassing NCAA all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark on the list of most points by a women’s college basketball player through their first two seasons.
Speaking of Caitlin Clark, Gottlieb revealed this week that the WNBA star has offered to help the 19-year-old sophomore “navigate” the kind of fame she is dealing with as one of the biggest stars in college basketball. Watkins already had partnerships with Nike, Nyx, and Degree before signing the Fanatics deal.
“Just to know that I have that support, it means a lot,” Watkins told People. Watkins added, “She’s just a super dope person and for her to do that, that means a lot. But I haven’t reached out yet.”