USC Women’s Basketball: North Carolina guard Stephanie Watts announces her transfer to the Trojans

The USC women’s basketball program will receive a big addition to its roster for next season via the transfer portal. Former North Carolina guard Stephanie Watts announced on her instagram that she will transfer to the Trojans. She will be eligible to play immediately as a grad transfer. USC has yet to officially announce the addition of Watts.

USC has been hit with some key losses at the guard position which included team leader junior Minyon Moore, who will leave as a grad transfer. The upside is that they will also receive a few key addition at the guard spot with five star guard Endyia Rogers, four star guard Kyra White, and three star guard Madison Campbell. USC will also return Deseiree Caldwell and Shalexxus Aaron, the sister of USC senior guard Shaquan Aaron. The addition of Watts will further give USC some experience at the position.

The addition of Watts will also provide the Trojans with much needed shooting from the outside. Last season with the Tar Heels, Watts was third in three point percentage at .373 percent and led the team in three pointers made at 82. She’ll also bring much needed scoring production which was lost due to the graduation of Aliyah Mazykck and Mariya Moore and the transfer of Minyon Moore. Watts was the third leading scorer for the Tar Heels, averaging 15.2 points per game.

Watts was a five star guard out of Weddington High School in Wesley Chapel, NC. She competed in the McDonald’s All American Game and Jordan Brand Classic in 2015. She committed to North Carolina where she saw a large amount of minutes her freshman year. Watts averaged 14.2 points, 2.6 assist, and 7.2 rebounds on her way to being named ACC Freshman of the Year in 2016. The next two years would see Watts average double digits, however she would miss her junior season due to a knee injury that forced her to miss the last five games of her sophomore season.

Watts entered the transfer portal along with three of her teammates back in March. A few days later, allegations were made against North Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach Sylvia Hatchell and three other assistant coaches for racial comments and mishandling injuries. It’s unknown wether Watts transferred due to the allegations. Hatchell resigned from her head coaching duties in mid April following the allegations made.