By John "Woods" Armwood III
At Rutgers University, you never know who you’ll run into. Sunday night, Multi-Nominee and Grammy Award-winning artist Fabolous was in attendance to see the Scarlet Knights (8-7) take on the No.4 ranked USC. The game of women’s basketball is beginning to shift and like Fabolous, many celebrities are beginning to take a liking to the product. That said, outside of viewership, women like JuJu Watkins, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Kiyomi McMiller, Olivia Miles, Hannah Hidalgo, and so many more have helped change the sport culturally. During halftime, I had the pleasure of speaking with Fabolous about his expectations of the game and the overall scope of women's sports.
“The women’s skillset has grown, and I think of course the rise of the WNBA has helped,” Fabolous stated. “I think women in sports have always been around, but I think now they’re getting their just due.”
The Brooklyn native mentioned he plans to attend Rutgers events more frequently as he explained it’s not too far from home. Rutgers supporters can expect to see him soon, as he expressed he’s looking forward to attending a men’s basketball game as well. Despite the embarrassing loss for Rutgers, he appeared to be enjoying himself while at the game. Over the years, many recognize Fabolous as a trendsetter for his fashion sense. Sunday night, the artist lived up to his expectations as he was dressed extremely fashionable again.
“Rutgers always shows me a good time, I haven’t been in a while,” Fabolous continued. “... I definitely wanted to come out and see the girls get it in, and I plan to come back and catch Dylan [Harper] and everybody play. I want to come to some more games, I am staying in [New] Jersey so it’s not far from home.”
“The women’s skillset has grown, and I think of course the rise of the WNBA has helped,” @myfabolouslife stated. “I think women in sports have always been around, but I think now they’re getting their just due.”@Sh3gotgame1@RutgersWBB
— John “Woods” Armwood III (@J_Armwood908) January 7, 2025
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Turning Negatives Into Positives
Heading into Sunday, unfortunately, he arrived anticipating the matchup, McMiller vs. Watkins. Hours before the game, McMiller announced on her Instagram that she wouldn't be suiting up against the Trojans. Despite not appearing on the bench, McMiller's talents were surely missed as several players attempted to replicate her efforts, resulting in a season-high 27 turnovers. Naturally, it shocked many, but more importantly disappointed many as well. Therefore, the highly anticipated matchup was stripped away, but Fabolous’s morale remained high as he enjoyed still being able to see star player Watkins perform.
“That’s what I came here for, the matchup between JuJu and Kiyomi,” he explained. “Maybe, we get to catch it another time. Again, it’s good to even see that women's sports are being put on this stage, so I’m here to support that as well.”