Big Ten's Female Athlete of the Year award won by USC's JuJu Watkins

Already accomplished throughout two impressive seasons with USC, JuJu Watkins continues to distinguish herself in college basketball. Although it is premature to look too far ahead, it is known that there are WNBA teams already excited over the prospect of potentially adding the Trojan guard to their side.

Watkins' latest accomplishment came from USC's new conference home. The Big Ten named the guard as the Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year. This is an honor that has been previously earned by the likes of Caitlin Clark and Megan Gustafson. This award takes all collegiate sports into consideration, with some of the past winners before Clark having made their mark in volleyball and swimming and diving.

To be selected as the best overall athlete among all of the student-athletes in a well-rounded conference with as much depth as the Big Ten's is immensely telling.

Even though Watkins' postseason was cut off prematurely, her level of play and dominance during the regular season not only helped USC win a title during their first year in the Big Ten but also has the Trojan on pace to surpass the aforementioned Iowa Hawkeye, Clark, as the all-time leading scorer in college basketball history.

Unfortunately for basketball fans, Trojan supporters or otherwise, spectators lost the chance to watch Watkins complete an NCAA Tournament run on her own terms. It will forever be one of the bigger 'what-ifs' in collegiate sports.

Significant award for USC guard

It is telling, though, that even with that unfortunate incident, Watkins had such an excellent season that the Big Ten bestowed this honor on the Trojan over the rest of the otherwise worthy athletes in the country. USC supporters should feel incredibly proud of Watkins' being named for this latest acknowledgement.

A lot remains unknown in terms of what the immediate future will hold for Watkins. Regardless of what happens, her play to this point has seen her separate herself from her peers, and it is nice to see a collective body that evaluates all sports pick Watkins as the best among a highly talented pool.