Why Sue Bird is predicting JuJu Watkins will be one of the best college basketball players ever

Sue Bird is saying the quiet parts out loud. Everybody needs a ticket to the JuJu Watkins show.

Remember in January of this year when I said JuJu Watkins isn’t Caitlin Clark, but she’s not far behind? Well, it’s time for another reminder that while the whole country is seemingly going wild over Caitlin (as they should), JuJu Watkins is quietly putting on a freshman campaign for the ages. Her game is getting so hard to ignore that Sue Bird is now watching.

I get it. Caitlin Clark is THE moment and the proverbial measuring stick for women’s college basketball dominance. Still, since the beginning of the season, I have been saying that this year’s freshman class is built differently. That class also includes a one-player wrecking crew named JuJu Watkins.

In case you aren’t familiar with her game, JuJu has 13 Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards, 10 games of 30 or more points, made this week’s women’s basketball starting five and recently dropped 51 points in a game that earned her immediate Caitlin Clark comparisons.

SHE IS A FRESHMAN DOING THIS SORCERY ON A BASKETBALL COURT.

Sue Bird seems to understand how unique JuJu’s game is because she also brought up JuJu during a recent podcast episode where she discussed Caitlin.

Per Richard Deitsch of The Athletic, this is the nugget Sue dropped:

“There are other players right now in college basketball where you can feel excitement. JuJu Watkins is killing it at USC and could arguably end up being one of the best players ever. I’m not saying that loosely; it’s because of the way she is starting her career.”