JuJu Watkins' injury is tragic, but Mississippi State should not be made a villain

Mississippi State women's basketball saw it's season come to an end late Monday night in Los Angeles, as the Bulldogs fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to 1-seed USC 96-59. The game was never competitive, but the story of the night was not the Trojans' dominance.

Just five minutes into the game, USC's JuJu Watkins, one of the biggest stars in all of college athletics, went down with a nasty injury while driving to the basket. Watkins did not return, and following the game, it was reported that she tore her ACL and would miss the remainder of the season. College basketball's biggest name, sadly, won't be playing in the NCAA Tournament going forward.

A foul was called on Mississippi State's Chandler Prater on the play. Prater did make some contact with Watkins in an effort to defend the expected shot attempt, but the play itself looks to be nothing more than a standard defensive foul. Unfortunately, there was a non-standard result, and fans of the USC and JuJu Watkins did not feel that Prater made a basketball play to put it lightly.

Prater and the Mississippi State team were booed loudly for the remainder of the game by Trojan fans. Many took to social media to express their anger towards the Bulldogs over what they believed to be a dirty play. According to the Clarion Ledger's Sam Sklar, Prater has had to disable comments on her Instagram account because of the hateful replies she's been receiving.

Seeing JuJu Watkins go down is awful, and when something like that happens, there is a natural tendency for fans to react emotionally, irrationally, and frankly, inappropriately. But what that does not excuse is an attack on a student athlete and the unfair painting of a program.

Mississippi State and Chandler Prater should not be villainized over JuJu Watkins injury

No one wants to see injuries. It's the negative side-effect of playing sports, and sometimes we sadly see superstars like JuJu Watkins fall victim. In the case of basketball, it is a contact sport. There was contact with JuJu Watkins by Chandler Prater. But it was not hard contact, and it certainly was not flagrant. Prater did not shove her, she did not grab at her, and she did not trip her.

All Prater does is cut off Watkins' path to the basket. 99% of the time, nothing bad happens in that scenario. But unfortunately for Watkins, she stepped awkwardly and suffered an injury as a result. It's awful, but it's not at all dirty.

Immediately following the game, Bulldogs' head coach Sam Purcell expressed his concern for JuJu Watkins, and while he said he was not aware of the initial narratives spreading on social media, he made clear there was no malicious intent from his team.

"We're a program of class, and my prayers and thoughts are with JuJu. We don't play to hurt, we play to compete. That's just an unfortunate situation. "

Miss State HC Sam Purcell

But beyond people attempting to characterize the MSU program as dirty, what's truly awful is people going after Chandler Prater. The fact she found herself needing to turn off comments to her personal Instagram account because people are attacking her is despicable behavior. Purcell made sure to take up for Prater in his postgame press conference.

"I hope us as a society, because social media can be ugly, can understand that the other lady that was involved is a woman of class. I'm sure she is remorseful and obviously didn't want that to happen."

Sam Purcell

I fully understand being upset to see JuJu Watkins go down. It is a human reaction. But to villainize the MSU program and attack a student athlete over a freak injury when that injury was not the result of a dirty play is completely unfair. You can be heartbroken without needing to find someone to direct anger to.

Ole Miss' Yolett McPhee-McCuin defends Mississippi State as Bulldogs draw criticism over JuJu Watkins injury

As you would expect, there has been an outpouring of support for JuJu Watkins in the wake of her injury. One figure in women's college basketball who voiced her support was Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. But while expressing that support, she also took the time to defend her in-state rivals.

McPhee-McCuin calls for people to stop pushing that narrative that "Mississippi State was dirty." It was a classy move by her, as she certainly didn't have to take the time to stick up for her own program's biggest rival.

Hopefully her voice will resonate and cooler heads will prevail going forward. It's awful any time a player goes down with such a horrific injury, and considering that it happened to a monumental figure in women's basketball in the middle of the postseason, it's even more tragic. But it was a freak incident, and Mississippi State and Chandler Prater should not be so harshly mischaracterized as a result.