The pendulum in college basketball shifted on Monday night.
Everyone held their collective breath when JuJu Watkins went down with a torn ACL in her right knee in USC’s second round win against Mississippi State in the NCAA tournament.
The star of college basketball was gone just like that.
The one-seeded Trojans and one of the favorites to win the national championship just lost their best player and leader.
That is when all eyes shifted to Kiki Iriafen.
The 6′ 3″ senior transfer from Stanford wouldn’t let her Trojans unravel just because Watkins went down.
Iriafen proceeded to put the team on her back.
The star forward finished with 36 points and nine rebounds, going 16/22 from the field.
She wasn’t ready to go home.
Iriafen knows what it takes to win in the NCAA tournament because she has been here before.
With the Stanford Cardinal, next to WNBA star Cameron Brink, one of basketball’s most recognizable faces.
Brink and Iriafen played on a Final Four team together in 2022.
“[Iriafen] is like my biggest cheerleader, and I’m trying to be hers,” Brink told The Stanford Daily in 2024.
“Even in hard moments, we’ll be laughing and remind each other it’s not that serious, but we’re going to compete our hardest. She’s a blast to play with.”
Iriafen was a member of the All-Pac 12 Team last season and made first-team All-Big Ten honors this year.
If there’s anyone that can come close to the impossible task of stepping in for Watkins, it’s Iriafen.
But don’t get it twisted, the 21-year-old isn’t just defined by what she can do on the court.
In fact, what she does off of it is as equal, if not more, impressive.
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While she does have WNBA aspirations, Iriafen also wants to do a handful of other things.
While attending Stanford, Iriafen was a design engineering major. She has expressed interest in becoming a doctor or engineer, and even mentioned wanting to try and model.
“I love modeling,” Iriafeen told The Stanford Daily last year.
“I’ve been trying to do a lot of magazine modeling and runway modeling. I’m going to be a supermodel one day.”
Iriafen’s Nigerian-born parents have always pushed her to prioritize academics, while giving basketball a backseat.
Luckily for her, she has excelled at both. The 22-year-old is currently pursuing a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and innovation at USC.
“I am passionate about my culture, so I could do some design work in Nigeria or work with women and children working on women’s health,” Iriafen said.
The world is Iriafen’s oyster.
Whatever she chooses to do, she will be successful.
But for now, the task is now hers to lead the Trojans back to the Final Four for the first time since 1986.
Watkins isn’t walking through that door.
It’s on Iriafen.
How to watch March Madness in the UK
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March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions.
This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years.
talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service.
Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
