The USC women’s basketball team lost its most important piece when JuJu Watkins announced she will miss this entire season due to an ACL injury suffered in the NCAA Tournament in March, but that’s not the only roster update to keep in mind.
The Trojans, who saw eight players from last year’s team enter the transfer portal or leave to play professional basketball, will have six new faces in the program this season – including top-ranked recruit Jazzy Davidson.
“The standards remain the same,” Gottlieb told reporters in September. “The expectations remain the same, even though some faces are different.”
USC reached the Elite Eight last season, falling to No. 2 seed UConn. Returners like Kennedy Smith and Malia Samuels can use the tournament experience to provide consistency as USC enters the season minus its most valuable asset.
“I’m big on putting together the right pieces, not just taking whoever,” Gottlieb said. “We were very intentional about who we brought into this program and I think we’ve done a great job with the right people and the right pieces to be as competitive as we could possibly be.”
Who’s gone
Clarice Akunwafo, C, 6-6: Akunwafo is out of eligibility after four seasons with the Trojans. She shot .621 to average 2.1 points per game and grabbed 2.5 rebounds per game.
Dominique Darius, G, 5-10: Darius, who played her first two seasons at UCLA, is a captain for Syracuse this season as a graduate student. She appeared in only 20 games and averaged just 8.4 minutes per game.
Aaliyah Gayles, PG, 5-9: Gayles is playing for Utah State this season and will likely see her minutes increase as a result. She won the CWSA Honda Inspiration Award and the Pac-12 Tammy Blackburn Inspiration Award in the 2023-24 season for her remarkable comeback. Gayles was shot multiple times at a house party in April 2022 and overcame an inability to walk to return to the court.
Kayleigh Heckel, G, 5-9: Heckel announced her commitment to UConn on May 20 after finishing her freshman season with the Trojans. She started two of the 25 games she played for the Trojans and averaged 5.3 points per game while contributing defensively with 29 steals. In July, she won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup.
Avery Howell, G, 5-11: Howell transferred to Washington after spending her freshman year at USC. She had high potential as a pure shooter and shot 46.2% from the field and 43.5% from long range for an average of 8.5 points per game.
Kiki Iriafen, F, 6-3: Iriafen was the fourth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft and had a phenomenal rookie year with the Washington Mystics. She was the first rookie in team history to start a season with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds, which was prefaced by a noteworthy senior year at USC. As a mainstay in the starting lineup, she recorded 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Rayah Marshall, C/F, 6-4: Marshall was selected 25th overall by the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA draft and averaged 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in her rookie season. She finished her four-year career at USC with 1,265 points and started all 33 games her senior season. Marshall owned a 48.0% field-goal percentage and 50.0% 3-point percentage and pulled down 8.4 rebounds a game.
Talia von Oelhoffen, G, 5-11: Von Oelhoffen signed a contract to play overseas with Puerto Rico’s Leonas de Ponce after starting every game as a senior for the Trojans. The Oregon State transfer was a defensive contributor with 28 steals while scoring 5.4 points per game.
Who’s back
Rian Forestier, G, 5-11: Forestier has used her platform at USC to found 4ward, a philanthropic organization that raises money to purchase basketball shoes for Title 1 schools. She got into 16 games last season as a true freshman.
Vivian Iwuchukwu, F, 6-3: This sophomore is ready for an increased role after playing in 19 games as a true freshman, averaging 2.4 points and 1.6 rebounds a game.
Malia Samuels, G, 5-6: Samuels was at her best when the lights were shining brightest last season. She averaged seven points and two steals in 22.5 minutes in the Big Ten Conference semifinal and championship games.
Brooklyn Shamblin, G, 5-9: This Oaks Christian School product played in 16 games as a freshman and had a season-high seven points and three assists against CSUN.
Kennedy Smith, G, 6-1: The sophomore will likely be the most dominant defender for the Trojans this season. The Etiwanda High product missed seven games due to injury as a freshman and bounced back to finish the season with three defensive rebounds, two steals and nearly a block in each game she played in.
JuJu Watkins, G, 6-2: The Trojans’ star will miss this season due to an ACL injury. Watkins was an All-American first-teamer and Naismith Trophy winner as a sophomore and one of the top-scoring players in the country with 23.9 points per game. She ranks ninth in program history with 1,709 career points.
Laura Williams, F, 6-2: Williams redshirted last season. She was the top-ranked 2024 recruit in Virginia and surpassed 1,000 points in her senior year of high school.
Who’s new
Jasmine (Jazzy) Davidson, SF, 6-1: This is Davidson’s much-awaited first season with the Trojans. She was the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class, according to ESPN, and is coming off a gold-medal tour with Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Cup. She appeared in all seven games of the tournament with an average of 14.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and three steals per game.
Kara Dunn, G, 5-11: Dunn was an All-ACC first-teamer as a junior at Georgia Tech. She was the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer with 15.5 points per game and hit 49.3% of her shots.
Londynn Jones, G, 5-4: The senior moved across town to USC from UCLA, where she started in 108 consecutive games and hit more than 200 3-pointers in her three seasons with the Bruins. She was an unmistakable shooter at UCLA, making 35.1% of her 205 attempts from behind the arc.
Dayana Mendes, G/F, 6-2: The Parisian-born sophomore comes to USC from Washington State, where she made the WCC All-Freshman Team with a résumé of 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 18.5 minutes per game.
Kakiya Milton, F, 6-5: Milton is the tallest player on USC’s roster and joins the team from Auburn. Injury kept her out of the first 11 games of the season and her best game of the season was at Oklahoma, where she had a career-high seven rebounds.
Gerda Raulušaityte, F, 6-3: The Lithuanian National Team forward put up 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in Women’s LKL Division A last season and has plenty of international experience from her three tours in the FIBA European Championships.