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[ Audience cheers ]

-Hoop LA is USC's version of Midnight Madness.

There was nothing like this last year, for several years.

There is an appetite for this.

There's an excitement

about men's and women's basketball here.

There's nothing like USC right now

in terms of the star power and the momentum.

I call it the JuJu effect.

It's literally the first time they'll see JuJu

in a USC uniform in this building,

and that's pretty cool.

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-To be a part of the USC women's basketball legacy

is really inspiring.

The greatest of the greats went to SC

and just built such a culture

that every day you kind of look as, like, the standard.

-JuJu is going to get locals, like, back in the arena at USC.

She's going to get, like, little girls coming out

and wanting to see what she's doing next.

She's going to bring an excitement

that hasn't been there in a long time.

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-We've got a lot more attention this year.

Being a hometown kid, being from Watts,

playing here locally,

and being on national stages the last three years,

she has brought a visibility to our program

that we haven't had in a long time.

LA basketball is different.

People overlook the West Coast.

They think we're soccer fanatics,

but we got some real hoopers.

You've seen the culture from, you know,

the '80s to '90s with Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie,

Tina Thompson, Cynthia Cooper, all the way now to JuJu,

all representing this culture of who -- of connectivity,

of West Coast grit and grind.

-She's been a conversation in, like, the unified group

of L.A. players for a really long time.

-It's been a long time since we brought a championship home.

We want to win big.

JuJu can help us do something we haven't done in decades.

-I mean, I'm a rookie,

but I feel like much is expected from me.

I just want to win and really set the standard for the team.

-These are [Indistinct] Come on.

Make some noise for you. Come on!

[ Cheers and applause ]

-I think she always has a vision to be a Trojan.

Not only to win, but to win big.

To win championships, to cut down nets,

to leave a legacy, to change women's basketball.

-Man, where they take the ball at?

I thought you run this shit. What's going on?

-I do. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

[ Laughter ]

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-Alright, I got you, I got you, I got you.

-Ohh! -There you go!

-Okay, okay!

[ Laughter ]

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-Honestly, I didn't really have expectations.

Um, I was more concerned about basketball,

but now being here, like, truly as, like, a student athlete,

It's tough.

-It's all overwhelming.

You got to balance.

You know, school's a little tougher,

workouts are tougher,

and you're trying to learn that whole rope of things.

-A normal freshman transition to a collegiate team

is kind of crazy. You get here in the summertime,

all of a sudden you're lifting weights at 7:00 a.m.,

then you're going to class all day,

you're coming back for a workout.

Then you have homework.

-I'm tired a lot.

A lot of my schedule is just jam packed.

Barely any time to do some stuff,

like, that I want to do, like shopping and stuff,

but, I mean, that's just --

that's what I signed up for.

-Just read it again.

-It's definitely feels like a more gradual transition

than just, like, thrown into the fire type thing.

-I want to make sure

that I allow her the opportunity to be "a regular freshman"

in terms of not know where class is or where the food is

or where that building is.

That's normal freshman stuff.

-I definitely feel grown now,

just learning how to be more independent, stuff like that.

Wash clothes, the dishes.

-The standing up ones are so much easier to me.

-I've learned so much on the court,

and now I'm getting to a point in the classroom

where I'm just making sure that I'm staying on top of things

and just be the best student athlete I could be.

-Can you guys see where that's a strong side help?

So, everyone that Jake is -- just trying to make sure

everyone knows what we're talking about.

We open up in Vegas against Ohio State,

who they were in the Elite Eight last year,

their preseason ranked number seven.

First of all, see how they don't --

they're not running around quite as fast

as our Ben, right?

It's a little bit more methodical.

So, right here, if we're switching this

it's a switch to not let her get down the lane.

If it's an under, it's not let her get down the lane.

But do you see here right now the kid who's in the paint?

You see where now this is a strong side help,

because the ball is coming from weak side to strong side.

That's why she has to get out.

Today we were working on what we would consider

our scouting report defense trying to go over their sets,

but within our principles,

because we're still so early in the year.

We want to teach our principles,

but also get the players to understand

how important it is to prepare for an opponent.

It's sort of why I tell our players is having film

gives you the answers before you take the exam.

-Best player, leading scorer, kind of head of the snake.

Okay, she can do it all.

She's about 6'1", right hand driver.

So she puts it on the floor. She's going right.

-We talked for two weeks about Cody McMahon,

who's a great player, being much, much better to her right.

-Okay, she's another one that really crashes the boards hard.

Got to put a body on her, box out, push her out of the paint.

-We can't watch the shot go up.

We got to check people

because they're flying in from the perimeter.

It's a little harder to box someone out from out there,

so check it. We need to be committed

to what we're doing and not,

um, you know, not have possessions that we give up.

Um, any questions? Alright.

I want to see us stay connected.

I want to see us own the game plan.

I want to see us play extremely hard

and make these fans proud.

-My doctor [Indistinct]

-Thank you, Ryan.

-I'm trying to make us game-ready.

What we're doing is junior high.

Pick your stuff up.

Two seconds to get it across the court.

Sprint out of your rolls. Let's go.

Let's go, let's go!

Sprint, Kinsey!

Come on, guys. Come on, guys.

-Drag it.

-Ohio State is picked to be

a Final Four contributor,

national championship contender.

So, we're working really hard.

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-It's a top 20 matchup between two really,

really good programs on national TV.

I don't know the last time SC has had that.

-Your teeth are going to be jarring

from the way these people are coming at you.

This is big girl basketball.

So, if you want to play it, you got to apply it,

and you got to take care of your business

because they're tough as hell.

They're tough.

If you want to be the best, you got to play the best.

And right now, they're at the top of their game.

-Oh. -Do it again. Let me do that.

-When I was the head coach at Cal, up in Berkeley,

everyone started talking about this eighth grader,

you know, have you heard of Judea Wakins?

And this girl named JuJu, like,

it just kind of came on my radar.

That's when I went to the NBA.

I was sitting in the NBA, really happy in Cleveland.

My family was happy there.

I felt like I was part of something,

and I was not looking to leave.

But when USC called me about the job,

I clearly was aware of, gosh, that JuJu girl, right?

She's still in LA and she's probably about, you know,

a junior in high school now.

So, that's when I took the job here.

So, bounce-drag-touch would be Ju gets it

and touch it went right to Raya.

And right here, just touch it, Ju,

and right back to her. -Oh, okay, okay.

-Just specifically, that's it. You don't have to do it.

But that look, I've been watching you come off this

and right to here.

-'Cause they're going to be switching.

-What's it called? -Touch-drag-touch.

-JuJu comes, in walks into college

so much more ready from a basketball standpoint

than probably any freshman I've ever been around.

You know, for as good as she is, she's also a willing student.

-Like, we don't do this on a live basket.

It's too slow.

So, you have to assume Kinsey can't run.

Does that make sense?

So, if she can't get it to you, you got to go to her --

-All the way to her. -...to get the ball.

-You got to get the ball.

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-Good action. Good action.

Good, good. -Get through it.

Good. Good shot.

-JuJu needs to understand that this is a marathon.

Being a college basketball player, people are stronger.

People are faster. People are smarter.

-Box out!

Good. Hey, if they get any --

any rebounds that happen in this circle, we ain't going to get.

-Yeah. -Do you understand me?

-Like, we talking 250-pound women.

So, you got to shove their --

a rebound has to be outside this circle.

-I feel like in the game there's limited mistakes.

So, just taking on that responsibility

and adapting quick to the game.

And I know that I have my teammates on my side.

So, I'm pretty confident that, you know, I'll do pretty good.

-You all have the itineraries of what time

we're supposed to be places

and what we're supposed to be wearing.

And so, if it says, "Depart to dinner at 5:00," right,

if I come down at 5:01

and people aren't there, you're late.

If you have a question, ask Ryan, ask a teammate.

But there's no excuse not to know what we're doing,

where we're going.

You'll be assigned roommates.

Those roommates do not change. That is who your roommate is.

When we have a "be in your room by" and a "lights out,"

respect that.

We understand that I'm not bed-checking you

on a random Tuesday night in L.A., right?

But when you are traveling with us,

you are under our supervision

and our watch and our responsibility.

And we are traveling because we have a game,

so the performance matters.

So, we put rules on what's good for you all.

Okay?

-ID checks, make sure you bring your ID

if you're on the bus because sometimes,

you know, some mishap.

Always have your shoes.

We can always replace a jersey,

but it's hard to replace shoes.

And we know the headwear, hat-wear thing.

No scarves, no bonnets,

no do-rags when we travel.

-Um, alright. That's all I got.

Make sure I got to run to a Zoom.

-SC on three, family on six.

One, two, three. -SC!

-Four, five, six. -Family!

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-* My crew like to flash it all in town *

* My crew like to pull up in them foreigns *

* Looking good, smelling good all the time, huh *

* Your crew ain't messing with mine, huh *

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-To come out, our first game be against a top ten team,

it's not done that often.

A lot of nerves coming into it.

I thought it would just be, like, a chill game.

It's a lot going on.

I have to do it. There's no other option.

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