USC Women's Basketball: Incoming Freshman Wins National Title
Incoming USC women's basketball freshman, Vivian Iwuchukwu, is a national champion. Iwuchuckwu helped lead her high school, Montverde Academy, to defeat IMG Academy on Saturday to win Chipotle Nationals. This was the third straight national championship for Montverde.
In the title game win, Iwuchukwu scored 17 points and six rebounds. The 6-foot-3 forward signed with USC back in December of 2023 and is the No. 47 ranked prospect in the country per ESPN. She is considered a four-star recruit.
She joins USC's incoming 2024 class in what many consider to be the best recruiting class in the country. Along with Iwuchukwu, the Trojans are bringing in three five-star recruits, Kennedy Smith, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel.
Smith is the No. 6 overall recruit as well as the Gatorade California Player of the Year, Howell, who is the Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year and ranked 23rd, and Heckle, who is ranked 28. The Trojans are also bringing in two other four-star recruits, Laura Williams and Rian Forestier.
These six are expected to come in to help USC build off their latest season, in which they advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight behind former No. 1 overall recruit JuJu Watkins. The Trojans put in their best season in three decades and finished the season ranked No. 5 overall in the AP Top 25 poll. While USC is losing McKenzie Forbes, Kayla Padilla and Kaitlyn Davis, these six are expected to help the program continue their success over the next four seasons.
