Freshman USC guard Jazzy Davidson felt some nerves early in her collegiate debut Tuesday night. She fumbled the ball a couple of times before missing her first shot, a 3-pointer that bounced off the rim. Then she was called to the road, then she missed three more and another shot right before the first-quarter buzzer.
All the while, her teammates and coaches were in her ear:
Slow down. Stay in the present moment.
Then in the second quarter, junior forward Gerda Raulusaitete grabbed a rebound and found the freshman breaking in transition. Davidson, who was the top high school recruit in the country, took the ball to the rim and flipped the ball over an Aggie defender in the first play of her collegiate career.
“It was wonderful,” she said. “It was a little tough at first, but like I said, it’s just my coaches and my teammates that always support me and have my back.”
It's safe to say that she dealt with her nerves. From there, Davidson settled into the game smoothly, recording 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal for USC. 87-48 season opening defeat of the state of New Mexico. Three other Trojans scored in double figures, led by UCLA transfer Londyn Jones with 16 points. Kara Dunn scored 12 points with eight rebounds and Kennedy Smith added 11 points.
“It was about getting her rhythm,” trainer Lindsay Gottlieb said. “Like our other playmakers, they're dynamic, aren't they? So when the balls go in, that's great, but that's not the only way to influence the game.”
Case in point: Two minutes before halftime, Davidson, guarding the wing, knocked the ball away from New Mexico State's DeAvion Wilson. She took control of the ball as it headed toward the sideline, managed to stay in bounds and dribbled it from one to the other, drawing a foul as she went to the break and making both free throws.
However, Davidson's best performance of the night came in the third quarter.
She stepped away from the screen, dribbled the ball to the baseline, slipped between two defenders and hit a soft jumper from the wing. She did it again on the next possession, this time coming down from the top of the key, pirouetteing into the paint and making an easy two-foot putt.
Later in the quarter, the Aggies combined with Davidson at the elbow. While trying to keep the ball, she found Dunne wide open in the corner and threw it to her. Dunn let the three fly and hit it, extending the Trojans' lead to 30 points.
It wasn't even Davidson's best performance, considering she shot 0-of-7 from 3-point range. Not only was this only her first game at the college level, but she is still recovering from missing some practice due to illness.
Gottlieb knows there is another mechanism that needs to be unlocked.
“It’s a process,” Gottlieb said. “And we have every confidence in her ability to make an impact in the win, and we know the shots will fall.”
It's hard not to think about the future and imagine how bright the future could be for the University of Southern California, where Davidson, a former McDonald's All-American and FIBA Under-19 World Cup gold medalist last summer, and JuJu Watkins, who received the 2025 John R. Wooden Award on the court at the Galen Center in a pregame ceremony and cheered on her teammates from the sideline for all 40 minutes, will play together next season.
But the Trojans still have a whole season ahead of them. If anything, Tuesday was a promising start for Davidson.
“It means a lot,” Davidson said. “Like I said, it's really exciting to play my first collegiate game. So yeah, I'm just really grateful for the opportunity.”
