When one of the best athletes in the nation went down with an injury, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was quick to show her support.

Staley told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Gamecocks’ Sweet 16 matchup against Maryland that she had reached out to USC star JuJu Watkins after a season-ending injury in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

USC will face Kansas State on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Spokane, Washington in the Sweet 16.

“We were fortunate enough to be one of our schools in the end,” Staley said of Watkins’ recruiting process. “I kept in touch with her, her support system; I sent her text out.

“I sent her a text out the night of the injury, but it went green, so that means that was not the right number. Then, her person sent me the right number last night, so I shot her that text message.”

Watkins suffered a torn ACL in the Trojans’ NCAA tournament matchup against Mississippi State, with the program announcing that she would miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery and beginning rehabilitation.

The junior averaged a dominant 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game,

The First Team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year was recently announced as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s national player of the year.

“It was really tough,” Staley said. “JuJu is loved by all of us. Juju is raising, lifting our game up with how she plays and cornering the market when it comes to NIL deals.

“She’s a business herself, and to see part of that not be a part of our NCAA tournament, something’s missing, there’s a big void.”

South Carolina is set to face Maryland on Friday at 4 p.m. in the Sweet 16 in Birmingham.