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The 2024-25 Naismith Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday afternoon and it was a heavily West Coast affair. All three winners came from the two dominant Los Angeles schools this season, USC and UCLA, with Trojans star JuJu Watkins taking home National Player of the Year honors. 

Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game on 42.6/32.5/82.0 shooting splits to lead the Trojans to a 31-4 record this season. The USC star built on her tremendous freshman campaign, further establishing herself as one of the most dominant forces in the women's game, and helped the Trojans earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Watkins suffered a devastating injury, tearing her ACL early in the team's second round game against Mississippi State. Without Watkins, the Trojans still made it to the Elite Eight before being ousted by UConn. 

The other two Naismith Awards went to USC's rivals, as UCLA center Lauren Betts won Defensive Player of the Year and UCLA coach Cori Close won Coach of the Year honors. Betts averaged 3.0 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, as she was the anchor for the Bruins defense that was among the best in the country (sixth in opponent field goal percentage at 35.2 percent). The Bruins earned the top seed in this year's NCAA Tournament and have gone 34-2 on the season, making their first ever trip to the Final Four under Close.