With one season remaining in her Kansas career, the time has arrived for KU soccer star Lexi Watts to pour everything she’s got into her final season on the pitch.
As she does, we’ll follow her every step of the way in the latest edition of our weekly diary series that will chronicle Watts' 2025 season.
Some of what you’ll read here, in Watts' own words, will focus on the stuff happening between the lines — big wins, memorable moments and the grind of the season.
But a lot of it will focus on Watts the person, who loves soccer, loves KU, loves her teammates & coaches and is looking to make one more mark on the program before she says goodbye.
The Watts File
Age: 21 | Number: 18 | Height: 5-7 | Position: Forward
High School: St. James Academy (Lenexa) | Club: Sporting Blue Valley
Notable: Lexi Watts began playing soccer at 3 years old and has not looked back. The daughter of soccer-playing parents, Watts quickly showed her skills in the game en route to earning all-league and all-state honors in high school, where she solidified her status as a goal-scoring machine... During an all-Big 12 freshman year at Kansas in 2022, Watts' 6 goals were the most by a KU freshman since 2012... In Year 2, Watts appeared in all 18 KU matches, finishing second in points scored and third in assists... Last season was Watts' true breakout season, as she finished with a team-best 21 points and 9 goals. Her shots on goal (38) and total shots (82) both ranked in the top seven on KU's all-time, single-season lists, and she was named to the Big 12's all-tournament team as the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the 2024 Big 12 tourney, with a spot all-Big 12 first team following that.
KU record to date: 5-0-2 | Next up: Sunday at Liberty, 11 a.m. kickoff
A year ago, Watts was barely known by Kansas fans outside of soccer circles.
Today, she’s one of the faces of the KU program that’s on a rapid rise and hasn’t really changed much.
She likes the attention, sure. And she enjoys the support the team is getting. More importantly, she believes that all of it, from last year’s NCAA Tournament appearance and run to the Big 12 tourney title to this year’s hot start, is setting up Nate Lie’s program to sustain success long after she’s gone.
But more than anything, she just wants to keep winning.
First, though, she made sure to start her senior year the way she has started pretty much every other year since she got into playing competitive soccer.
By taking a break.
“Personally, for me, I always take time off. Like, once we’re done, I take as long as we can. I don’t touch a soccer ball, I don’t do fitness, I don’t do anything. Because I like, genuinely need a rest.”
She says she never wants the game she loves to feel like an obligation or something she has to do. So, she makes sure, every year, to give her mind and body time to reset.
“I know I’m not gonna miss it during that time. And then when I get back to work, it’s always fun again and I’m ready.
KU forward Lexi Watts shown here during home action at Rock Chalk Park this season.
The break from soccer means just that. A break from the sport and the game and having a ball at her feet.
It does not mean a break from keeping her body in shape.
Watts did a lot of traveling over the summer. Aruba. Dominican Republic. Alabama. Beaches and fun in the sun at all three stops.
“I think maybe even our coaches thought in the beginning, “Hmmm, we’ll see how you do when you get back. But as long as you do your fitness, it’s fine. Like, all the rest of the stuff will come.”
And she did fitness every day.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take like a day off if I need to. If I’m tired one day while I’m there, I’m not running. But I have to do something every day to know that I’ll be good to go when I get back to training and get to the point where, ‘OK, now I’m ready to touch a soccer ball again.”
Another reason Watts forces herself to work out every day, in season or out, is because of one key element of her lifestyle.
“I love unhealthy food. So, yeah. I have to do fitness every day. I don’t have a choice.”
If she’s being honest, Watts didn’t know how quickly this current Kansas team would start in 2025. She thought they would be good. And loved the momentum that they picked up by finishing strong in 2024.
In many ways, she said the start of this season kind of feels like she’s already back on that postseason run from a year ago.
More people than ever reach out to her to tell her good luck or congratulate her on a good game or the team’s hot start. And she gets recognized around town and on campus every once in a while, just like she and several of her teammates did late last season.
Part of that comes from the fact that she found her picture on the outside windows of not one but two Wendy’s restaurants last season — one in Lawrence and one in her hometown of Lenexa.
“Oh, it’s awesome. And I love Wendy’s, too. I think I’ve kind of tried the whole menu.”
Her favorites? The ice cream and chicken sandwiches.
Watts said you can see her picture from the highway at the Wendy’s closest to her childhood home.
“Random parents will text and be like, ‘Saw you on the Wendy’s sign.’ Or my friends’ parents will message my mom on Facebook and be like, ‘Oh my god, your daughter.’ But I like it. It’s pretty fun.
And then there’s her marketing professor, who she calls “awesome” and “the coolest professor ever.”
“He calls me out every single class, like, ‘I know you.’ He’ll say, ‘Ohhh, good game last game. I saw you scored some goals.’ Like, in front of the entire class. And I don’t know anyone in the class other than Leah, one of my best friends. I think everyone else is probably like, ‘Uhhh, what?’”
That kind of recognition, at school, from old friends or out and about, is something Watts has quickly come to love.
“It’s so nice. But it’s also still kind of funny to me at the same time. I do feel like it brings me motivation, though. It makes me want to work harder and make sure I do more and score more goals and all that.”
So far so good in that area. Watts is already up to 5 goals in 7 games, putting her well ahead of pace to pass her career-best mark of 9 goals from last season, which topped her 6-goal season as a freshman.
“If you would’ve told me I’d have 5 goals by this point a month ago, I would’ve probably been like, ‘Really!?! That’s great.’”
“Last year, I don’t think I scored until like the seventh game or something, and I remember being so stressed out about it because I wanted to beat my mark from freshman year. I remember counting down the games left and thinking, ‘OK, if I score one a game from here, I’ll get it.’”
Watts is so much more relaxed these days. In part because of her confidence in herself and also because of her comfort with the coaching staff and where the program is at and is heading.
“I feel like I had a lot of confidence from last season that just carried over. All I have to do is go through pictures, videos, whatever and you see it all. It’s just more motivation.
“Looking back is so good for our motivation and for the team to know where we were last year and what the expectations are now. Before, we always said we wanted to do well in the Big 12 but we weren’t like, ‘We’re gonna win it.’ Now, that’s the goal. I think that’s the standard.”
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