LOS ANGELES — At Sierra Canyon High School, you can say basketball is a way of life.
The gym in Chatsworth is synonymous with high-level talent and intense competition. Over the last few years, the Trailblazers have produced some of college and professional basketball’s next young stars and continuously compete at the highest level on the high school circuit.
The drive for greatness is part of the reason junior guard Judea “Juju” Watkins fits in so well.
Ask her head coach, Alicia Komaki, and Watkins is everything Sierra Canyon stands for and more.
“When you have one of the best players in the world on your team every day, the kids are getting better all the time,” Komaki said. “She ups the level of competition and goes so hard all the time.”
But looking at the smile on Watkins’ face throughout practice, you get the idea that basketball is more than just a game to her. It’s something she’s loved for a long time.
“My first basketball memory was up at Westchester Parks and Recreation League,” she said with a smile. “I’ve always kind of had an advantage because of my height, starting young. But as I started to get more into it, I started to grow my own love of the game.”
As she’s grown up through the game, the desire to compete has also grown. She doesn’t just love to play; she loves to win.
“I'm very competitive and I love to win," Watkins said. "If I don’t win then what am I doing it for?”
It’s part of the reason Watkins transferred to Sierra Canyon last year. Although she was a standout player at Windward, she and her family believed it was the Trailblazers’ program that would set her up for future success.
As one of the top prospects in the Class of 2023, Watkins craved intensity and a platform to play.
“Going against Sierra Canyon, you have a lot to go against. The atmosphere is amazing and the people here, there’s a sense of team spirit,” she said. “Being now on that side, it’s more fuel for me knowing I have people behind my back. We go to war for each other.”
In her first year at Sierra Canyon, Watkins and the Trailblazers are 22-1, ranked among the top 10 in the country and the top two in the state of California. Watkins has made an immediate impact on the team.
Standing at 6-feet-tall, she can really play anywhere on the court — with expert handles and precise shooting. Her physicality on both sides of the floor separates Watkins from other players her age.
Her incredible skill-set has made her one of the faces of the future of girls’ basketball. In fact, Sports Illustrated named her the “Sportskid of the Year” last year.
It’s a lot of attention and pressure for the teenager to take in, but Watkins takes it in stride.
“If somebody is gonna do it, it might as well be me,” she said. “So that’s what gets me going, just pushing forward the woman’s game.”
“Just knowing I am on the forefront for the future and that there’s a generation behind me to come,” she continued. “It’s amazing that I’m blessed to have that power.”
Coach Komaki said it’s been special to watch unfold. She’s confident Watkins — along with a talented group of girls across Southern California basketball — will pave the way for the future generation.
“We’re lucky. We’re looking at kids that can really be the face of basketball,” Komaki said. “We have a lot of talent and we’re gonna see a lot of these kids at the next level being the stars of the game and then in the WNBA being the ones to take the game to the next level.”
And that’s really the end goal for Watkins. She knows this is her purpose.
“As a woman in general, sometimes it can be disempowering or you have people putting you down, so just to see another woman and be empowered, it’s amazing to inspire them,” Watkins said.