Sports

JuJu Watkins Already Picked Up The Softest Technical Foul Of The Season For Harmless Trash Talk

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JuJu Watkins Technical Foul
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JuJu Watkins picked up right where she left off and began the women’s college basketball season with a steal on the very first play of the game. Unfortunately, she also received her first technical foul of the year during the first half, which also continued a frustrating trend of poor officiating.

Nothing changed over the last six months!

Watkins, the expected No. 2 overall pick in the WNBA Draft behind Paige Bueckers, led USC to the Elite Eight as a freshman. The Trojans ultimately fell to Bueckers and the UConn Huskies. They are expected to be even better this season with the addition of five-star wing Kennedy Smith and some of the best transfers in the country, like former Stanford standout Kiki Iriafen.

As a result of the offseason additions, USC is ranked third. It opened its 2024-25 campaign against No. 20-ranked Ole Miss in Paris.

Watkins came out hot. She had 16 points, six rebounds and two assists through the first 20 minutes.

The 19-year-old superstar also recorded three blocks during the first half. One of them resulted in a technical foul.

Watkins swatted Rebels guard Kennedy Todd-Williams into the second row. As soon as the latter landed back on the hardwood, she started yapping at the former. Even though Watkins’ chatter was harmless, a nearby official shut it down with a quick whistle and T’d her up. It was super lame.

Here is the “technical foul” in question:

The actual root of the foul is not the problem here. Taunting should be penalized if there is unruly behavior or overly explicit language involved. That’s totally fine.

However, JuJu Watkins did not go over the top, nor did she make any kind of obscene gesture.

Watkins blocked Todd-Williams’ shot and talked a little bit of trash. So what?

These kind of soft technical fouls have been a problem within women’s college basketball over the last few seasons. There’s no need for them. Let the girls play!