ALBANY – Destiny Littleton has two horses in this race: top-seeded USC and top-seeded USC.
Not a typo.
The La Jolla native played for the USC Trojans (last season, as a graduate transfer) and spent the previous three years with the South Carolina Gamecocks (winning a championship in 2022, as a redshirt senior).
So naturally, when Littleton completed her stretch between twice-daily practices and games with her German professional team, the Saarlouis Royals, she led both USCs to the championship game of the 2008 Women’s Basketball Tournament. NCAA on April 7 in Cleveland.
The support is still in very good condition. South Carolina beat Oregon State, 70-58, on Sunday in Albany, New York, and USC moved on, 74-70, in a Sweet 16 on Saturday in Portland, Oregon. The Trojans now need to get past No. 3 Connecticut. Monday to join the Gamecocks, North Carolina State and Iowa or LSU in the Final Four.
What will happen if his prediction comes true?
“Oh man, the question I’ve been asked since the tournament started, ‘Who are you going to go for?’” Littleton said by phone Sunday. “Honestly, whoever wins, I’ll be happy. I don’t support one or the other. In a perfect world, it will be a draw and both will win the championship. But the world is not perfect.
The real ones know it, Dest! 2 fan bases love you.
– Lindsay Gottlieb (@CoachLindsayG) March 25, 2024
That’s not necessarily the answer some members of South Carolina’s passionate fan base would want to hear, and they told Littleton so. But that’s how she feels.
“I have a degree from the University of South Carolina and a degree from Southern Cal,” Littleton said. “I am a proud alumnus of both institutions and have nothing negative to say about anyone; They are both my families.
The thing is, she’s been asked similar questions about who she would choose in the past.
A certain high-profile recruit visited USC last year and Littleton said she spent a lot of time discussing SC’s respective programs with that girl’s parents.
She told JuJu Watkins’ family the truth: If they were choosing between USC and USC, they couldn’t go wrong.
But now? Littleton is glad Watkins stayed home. The former Trojan guard said she has been getting up at 3 a.m. all season to watch the Trojans’ current games, using a fubo account donated by a fan and cheering like crazy alone or with her American teammate, former Bruin Jaelynn Penn.
“I’m also a California baby, so I like it when players stay home,” said Littleton, who originally committed to USC at Bishop’s School, where she graduated in 2017 — overcoming long hardships and a difficult childhood – as an established scholar and as the leading scorer in California high school history, with 4,300 points.
“It’s tough being the No. 1 player in your class at a school that’s not on the map, that no one really thinks about, and she did it,” Littleton said. “He was a great person to join the Trojans. And now watching them I’m like a proud mom, it’s amazing to see the complete turnaround of the program in a short time.
“I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s why I went to USC, to try to put them back on the map.’ And now they’re just over that number… win after win, heart attack after heart attack, they’re working their way to the national championship game!
WATKINS is a guy 😈😈
– Destin Littleton (@dstnylttltn24) March 31, 2024
A year ago, Littleton couldn’t have imagined USC would be this close this soon — although she’s not totally surprised.
“Geezy (aka coach Lindsay Gottlieb) completely transformed this program from no one even remembering who the Trojans were to everyone needing to know, ‘When are they playing?’ What channel are they on? Who are they playing? I don’t care who they play, I just want to watch, I want to see JuJu and the Nerds.
“We were trying to put USC on the map and win again, and for the most part we did that, but now to see it catapult like it did, it’s a testament to Geezy and his coaching team.”
Kudos, too, Littleton said, to Clarice Akunwafo, the 6-foot-6 aspiring surgeon she took under her wing last season and who has come through in key moments this postseason.
A year ago, Littleton helped USC reach the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2014, providing leadership, championship experience and averaging 14 points and 3.7 assists per game.
And USC helped revive her basketball career.
After graduating from South Carolina in 2022, Littleton wasn’t sure if he should continue hoops. In fact, the 5-foot-9 guard was leaning toward studying medicine, but when Gottlieb invited her to camp to try out, Littleton accepted and, despite some initial hesitation, decided to play.
She is so glad she did it.
She’ll be back in the United States in a few days, she said, after her grueling but rewarding first season of professional ball overseas, eight months of development that she hopes will help her getting closer to realizing his WNBA dream.
“Of course, parts of my game have definitely matured,” Littleton said. “And I think year after year I get better and better. There are still things I need to work on, but as far as my game goes, it’s good to see that I’m improving.
This goes for Littleton And USC in Los Angeles
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