JuJu Watkins Is Back, and So Is the Rivalry: No. 3 USC Meets No. 1 South Carolina Sunday in Greenville

The biggest early-season game in women's college basketball tips off Sunday afternoon in Greenville, S.C., and it has already had its share of drama, including a scramble just to get one of the teams there. No. 1 South Carolina and No. 3 USC, both 3-0, meet at 1 p.m. Eastern at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, with the game on ABC.

At the center of it is JuJu Watkins. The USC star missed both meetings with South Carolina last season while recovering from a torn ACL, and she returns to the matchup putting up big numbers, NBC Sports reported.

Watkins is averaging 24.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.7 steals heading into Sunday. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley has noticed a change in her game, saying Watkins looks leaner and is more willing to give the ball up and let her teammates do what they do best, according to NBC Sports.

She has plenty of help. Freshman Saniyah Hall is averaging 22 points and 6.7 rebounds and has scored at least 20 in each of USC's first three games. On3's preview argued that the talent around Watkins is what makes the Trojans a true title contender, while noting that USC has not yet been seriously challenged this season.

Watkins' future is already a national conversation. ESPN's latest 2027 WNBA mock draft projects her as the No. 1 pick, though it remains unclear whether she will turn pro or return for another college season.

The Gamecocks bring a comeback story of their own. Forward Chloe Kitts is back from an ACL injury as well, and she posted 17 points and 10 rebounds in South Carolina's win over North Carolina.

History is on Staley's side. South Carolina has won the past two meetings between the programs over the last year, including last season's NCAA Tournament second-round game, and USC is still looking for its first win over the Gamecocks in the series, NBC Sports reported. USC's student newsroom, Annenberg Media, has been billing the matchup as the battle for "The Real SC", a fitting tag for two programs that share initials and a growing dislike for losing to each other.

Getting there was half the battle. When the FAA's nationwide ground stop hit on Friday, the USC women's team was stuck in Los Angeles, and coach Lindsay Gottlieb told The Athletic the Trojans had not yet left as of Friday afternoon, Yahoo Sports reported. The FAA lifted the stop after a little more than four hours, citing communication problems at regional air traffic control centers.

Because the game is not until Sunday afternoon, the Trojans had a cushion to absorb the delay. This site reported the travel trouble on Friday night, and the scramble became one more storyline for a game that did not need extra hype.

Strip away the rankings and the draft talk, and Sunday's game is about something simpler: two young women who refused to let a devastating injury end their story. An ACL tear means months of quiet, painful work that nobody sees. Rehab sessions at dawn. Learning to trust a knee again. Watkins and Kitts did that work, and on Sunday they get to stand on the same floor and compete for a win that matters.

That is the kind of perseverance worth pointing out to every young athlete. Talent gets you noticed. Patience, discipline and faith get you back.

The game itself should be a beauty. South Carolina has built one of the sport's great programs on defense, depth and a standard that does not bend. USC has the most electric scorer in the country and a freshman who already looks like a star. When teams like this meet, the whole sport wins: more families watching, more girls in gyms on Saturday mornings, more reasons to love the game.

Tip-off is 1 p.m. Eastern Sunday on ABC. A South Carolina win would extend its recent run in the series and strengthen its hold on No. 1, while a USC win would give the Trojans their first victory over the Gamecocks and a statement that the West has a real challenger for the national title. Either way, this one will be remembered in March.