JuJu Wakins' teammate Rian Forestier drops 3-word comment on teammate Malia Samuel's BTS snaps from A'ja Wilson's shoe commercial

Juju Watkins’ friend and USC teammate Rian Forestier supported fellow Trojan Malia Samuel, who shared pictures from a commercial shoot promoting A'ja Wilson's new Nike signature shoe.

Samuel posted three snaps on her Instagram account on Wednesday with the caption:

“behind the scenes 📹,”

Several people reacted to the posts, including Forestier, who hyped her up in the comments.

“oscar coming soon,” Forestier wrote.

JuJu Wakins' teammate Rian Forestier drops 3-word comment on teammate Malia Samuel's BTS snaps from A'ja Wilson's shoe commercial. Credit: IG/@maliasamuels

Nike is giving Wilson’s new signature shoe a huge push with the rollout, and several college basketball players and coaches have been seen in different commercials, including her former coach, Dawn Staley, and now Forestier.

This is the 10th signature shoe Nike has built for a female basketball athlete since Sheryl Swoopes made history in 1995 by becoming the first-ever female basketball player to get a signature shoe.

Alongside Swoopes and Wilson, the other women to have received a Nike signature shoe include Cynthia Cooper, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, Chamique Holdsclaw, Sabrina Ionescu, Diana Taurasi and Jennifer Rizzotti.

Forestier and Samuel will hope they can also reach the peak of their basketball careers and probably get a signature shoe. However, they both still have a long way to go if they are to attain that level.

The 5-foot-11 guard completed her freshman year as a depth option for USC, playing 16 games with zero starts, averaging 1.3 points and 0.6 rebounds in 3.3 minutes per game.

In her two years with the Trojans, Samuel had a more prominent role as a sophomore, playing 35 games compared to 23 as a freshman. Her average rose from 8.7 to 12.5 minutes, and her scoring rate increased from 1.5 to 2.3 points per game.

The biggest star on the USC team is Watkins, who is already a bona fide star, having only just completed her sophomore season, and she is on track to reach a peak huge enough to get a signature shoe.

JuJu Wakins, Rian Forestier and other USC teammates share a “forced friendship”

Being a team often does not mean that you become friends with your teammates, but if such a bond can be created, it contributes to team chemistry.

Juju Watkins, Rian Forestier and other USC teammates from the 2024-25 season became friends by "force" as they were on the same team; at least that was the story they shared in a video that was shared on Instagram by “overtimewbb” back in October 2024.

The bond helped the team through the campaign, winning a historic Big Ten title in their first-ever season in the conference.