ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) – JuJu Watkins appeared with Joel Embiid in an AT&T business and threw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game.

The next great opportunity is almost here.

The Southern California sophomore standout has a likelihood to take over the baton that Caitlin Clark has carried for the past few years as the standard-bearer of women’s college basketball.

“I wouldn’t really say there’s pressure,” she said Wednesday during Big Ten media day. “There are a lot of great teams in this league and I think my main focus is winning with my team. And wherever that takes us, we are grateful. I’m grateful for this opportunity.”

Watkins and USC enter their first season in the Big Ten with rising expectations.

Last 12 months, the Trojans reached the Elite Eight of their deepest NCAA Tournament in three many years and were picked by each the coaches and media panel to win the conference championship. Watkins was named Preseason Player of the Year after a record-setting season as a freshman, and the opportunities ahead seem limitless at a time when interest in the sport has never been greater.

Clark, thanks to a series of three-pointers from Stephen Curry’s range, paved that path over the last 4 years at Iowa. She set a Division I record by averaging 28.4 points in her profession and was the obvious alternative to be drafted No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever.

Meanwhile, Watkins was a first-team All-American last season. She finished second in the nation behind Clark in scoring at 27.1 points per game and set a national record for a freshman with a complete of 920. USC routinely played to packed crowds with celebrities in attendance.

“I don’t know if there was a young African-American women’s basketball superstar at that age who could use that platform, but I think it’s going to do a ton of good for the communities both in Los Angeles and across the country,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I wouldn’t bet against her that she can handle anything. At the same time, our job is to prepare her for what may come and make sure she can enjoy life and be a child.”

She said Watkins showed last 12 months that she was ready to “take women’s basketball by storm.”

“This is what she did with courage, grace and authenticity that is exceptional,” Gottlieb said. Obviously, she’s a very different person and a very different player than Caitlin Clark. But I feel similarly, expectations are getting higher and better, and so they are still being fulfilled.”

Lifestyle

Gottlieb said USC administrators contacted Iowa State with questions on safety and the way the school kept Clark secure. She has also reached out to Clark and plans to call former coach Lisa Bluder, who retired in May, for advice on how to cope with such an influential player.

“Ask her to talk about what she would have done differently, what she did, what she had to learn and what she had to adapt to, even in terms of signing autographs, about the tour and when you meet with your band – that’s all” – Gottlieb he said. “Why not help each other and be a resource for each other, and then we can learn as much as we can from them.”

Iowa State coach Jan Jensen, Bluder’s longtime assistant, had some advice.

“In your home you try to protect yourself,” she said. “The world can be turning pretty fast and everybody can be talking and wanting Juju to proceed producing. I’d say that the big world outside can stay big, but in your world it should feel quite small and tight.

Watkins and USC find themselves in a complete recent world. It’s the same with the Big Ten with the arrival of the Trojans, UCLA, Oregon and Washington from the Pac-12. But since Clark is now in the WNBA, the league has one other torchbearer.

“It’ll be fun to watch him evolve,” said Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff, who saw Watkins rating 32 points in a gap loss to the Trojans in Las Vegas last 12 months. “I think the Big Ten will give her an even bigger stage than the one she was on. “When you add to that the fact that he’s in Los Angeles, I think he’s going to be someone who will really help continue to take the sport in a great direction.”

The competition couldn’t stop Coco Gauff from helping her opponent who had to withdraw from a tennis match.

According to , he was a young tennis phenomenon involved in a match against Naomi Osaka, when her opponent had to withdraw from the match due to a back injury she suffered. When the match was awarded to Gauff, after she sat on the bench on her side of the court, Gauff was seen hugging and talking to Osaka as they each approached the referee. Instead of returning to her bench, Gauff offers to help Osaka carry her bag and belongings to the locker room.

Osaka looked surprised that she offered and accepted, while Gauff grabbed one in all her bags and started walking side by side with her opponent off the tennis court.

Give me a helping hand 💜@CocoGauff helps an opponent off the field after Naomi Osaka is forced to withdraw from the game with a lower back injury.

Gauff advances to #ChinaOpen quarterfinals with the rating 3-6, 6-4, RET. pic.twitter.com/ahm3pavauj

— wta (@WTA) October 1, 2024

It took place on October 1 during the China Open. The submission allows Gauff to advance to the quarterfinals. The match was nearing the end of the third set when Osaka had to leave the court due to an injury. Osaka won the first set by a rating of 6–3, and Gauff rebounded to win the second set by a rating of 6–4.

reported that Gauff addressed media, wished Osaka a speedy recovery and admitted that her play was not her “best tennis”.

“I wish Naomi a speedy recovery. Nobody wants to win a match like that, especially after one set. Overall, I attempted my best. It wasn’t my best tennis. I do not know, it was just one in all those games where you are attempting to give your all at every point.

After the match, Osaka addressed her fans via social media explained what happened on the court.

“Hi everyone. I just wanted to say that I’m extremely grateful and comfortable to have been able to play in Beijing. With that said, I feel like I owe a little back story about today. So I locked my back in training earlier and truthfully, I wasn’t unsure if I’d give you the option to play in any respect but I just wanted to try, unfortunately as the match went on it step by step got worse. Totally value it lol 😅.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – When DeMar DeRozan woke up Tuesday morning with his first practice of the 2024-25 NBA season on the horizon, it finally hit him. The six-time NBA All-Star was a real member of the Sacramento Kings.

“Waking up in another (city), driving here, it really hit me,” DeRozan told Andscape after Kings practice on Tuesday. “Everything was just different. Landscape leaving the house. Drive. Realizing that rattling it, I’m trying to recollect learn how to get to the locker room once I get to the arena.

“Everything was so new and fresh that I was just trying to get my head around it. And sometimes it was good. It’s a new feeling. Everything will be new to me for the next few weeks.”

DeRozan sent shockwaves throughout the NBA when he agreed to a sign-and-trade on July 6 that sent him to the Kings from the Chicago Bulls, forward Harrison Barnes from Sacramento to the San Antonio Spurs and guard Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and money to the Bulls . DeRozan thus signed a three-year contract value $74 million. The 16-year NBA veteran averaged 24 points, 5.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 79 regular-season games with Chicago last season.

DeRozan is also from Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles. By signing with the Kings, he has a 90-minute flight away from his five children, mother and other members of the family and family members in Los Angeles. This is the former USC star’s first game west of Texas in his NBA profession, which began in 2009.

“It means a lot to me,” DeRozan said of being in California. “Even one in all my daughters asks on daily basis when she will be able to come over – even a day where she could just come for a day, spend time with me and are available back. Knowing this offers her excitement. This makes me extremely blissful.

“And I definitely look forward to the moments where if something happens, if I get a day off, I can go home, see it and come back the same day. So I’m looking forward to that more than anything.”

DeRozan has been busy leading as much as the start of Kings training camp, promoting his book in the United States and Toronto.

DeRozan wrote about his public battle with depression, hoping it might encourage those in must seek help, including African Americans who’re less prone to seek mental health treatment. According to . DeRozan also recently spoke to the NBA’s rookie class and sent each member a replica of his book with a handwritten note.

“It was definitely a new feeling for me because I had never experienced anything like that before,” DeRozan said of writing the book. “(I) Never expected something like this. It was the first time, but it was good because he even helped me with so many things that I realized that I had to find a way for myself and work on myself to be able to continue as a friend, father and leader. So it was definitely something I challenged myself to do. But it was hard at first.”

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown asked DeRozan to discuss his “phenomenal” book before the first practice of the season. DeRozan spoke for about 10 minutes. Holding a replica of the book, Brown told the media after practice that each Kings player also received a replica.

Brown said mental health issues are an actual problem amongst African Americans. According to McLean Hospital in 2024, roughly 25% of African Americans are in search of mental health in comparison with 40% of white Americans. Suicide is the third commonest reason for death in 2024 for Black men ages 15 to 24, in line with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“He talked to the team about his thought process in writing the book,” Brown said. “During the game, he also told the team why he did it. It’s all about him and letting people know that everybody has had problems. Even though they play in the NBA, they’re still human and undergo ups and downs in life similar to you or anyone else. And it’s okay to be vulnerable whenever you’re going through (life)…

“That’s why the key words for me were ‘be vulnerable.’ In our (African American) community, you don’t cry, you don’t go to the doctor. And that’s a stigma. For him to open it up and talk to our group today and have it in the book is an amazing thing to be a part of.”

DeRozan is a proven scorer and is known for enjoying closer games. After practice, Brown told the media that he was also pleasantly surprised with his passing skills. Brown and Kings guard De’Aaron Fox also was impressed with DeRozan’s patience and efficiency when attempting to rating.

“He’s not just a scorer, he’s a basketball player,” Brown said. “I let you know, a few of the passes he made (Tuesday), I didn’t think I used to be going to get there a few times. But he never panicked when he played. He played at his own pace. He acted fast when he desired to act fast. He walked slowly when he desired to go slowly.

“He kept the defense off balance. And when someone was open, he made the right pass… The luxury of having another guy who knows how to play, who can pass, dribble and shoot – and more importantly, wants to pass – that will help us be a little more dynamic on the offensive side of the pitch.”

Fox said: “He attracts loads of attention, especially when he has the ball. Even though he’s getting all this attention, he’s still capable of get to his spots and still put the ball in the basket. And when three or 4 guys go down, you get loads of open shots.

In addition to DeRozan, the Kings have a talented lineup that features two-time center Domantas Sabonis and Fox, a 2023 All-Star. The Kings even have a possible rising star in third-year forward Keegan Murray and proven veteran scorers Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk. The Kings broke a 17-year playoff drought by making the 2023 playoffs, but didn’t secure a return to the postseason during last season’s NBA Play-in Tournament.

The Western Conference is stuffed with potential rivals: the Dallas Mavericks, 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. But DeRozan says the Kings have the talent to make the Western Conference Finals. The Kings have not played in the Western Finals since 2002.

“The passion, the drive of the coaching staff, from the players to the fan base, from top to bottom,” DeRozan said. “The guys wish to win. You saw where they were two years ago. The talent that they had there and even last 12 months before the injuries. Everything is possible. I believe the way we worked (Tuesday), the confidence the guys have and the way I’m approaching this summer, going into this season, has given me the most confidence.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who turns 39 in December, enters the season as the profession scoring leader and the league’s oldest energetic player. DeRozan is not yet one in all the oldest energetic NBA players – he is already 35 years old, but he is the oldest player of the Kings team and only one in all two players over 30 years old (Alex Len, 31 years old).

DeRozan has played not less than 74 games in each of the last three seasons. In his fifteenth season in the NBA, he also played the highest number in the league: 2,989 minutes and 37.8 minutes per game. Thanks to James’ words of wisdom on his offseason training plan, DeRozan hopes to have one other healthy season with loads of minutes in Sacramento.

“I’m grateful that I continue to do what I do at a high level,” DeRozan said. “I’m proud and I need to be unique and break this age barrier where people keep saying I’m old and slowing down. Last 12 months I led the league in minutes (per game) and I desired to play more. As for me, I just keep in great shape. I maintain my body. I get enough rest. I do nothing but loosen up with my children and jump.

“It means loads to me that I’m still playing. I like the guys who’ve played at a high level for thus long. I take a look at a man like Bron (James). It’s amazing what he does and the way he does so well. He takes care of himself. I remember one evening that summer we were playing cards and he was working on himself. This just goes to indicate why he has been playing for thus long. It’s amazing. So just steal stuff like that because you wish to have longevity and play at a high level, so other people feel that when you maintain yourself, you may play so long as you wish.

DeRozan shall be 38 years old when his contract with the Kings expires. But will he play until he’s forty? Well, that is where he drew the line.

“No,” DeRozan said with a smile.