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South Carolina women’s basketball: Get to know Te-Hina Paopao

Get to know Te-Hina Paopao, the former Oregon sharpshooter who joins South Carolina this season.

(Questions have been paraphrased to provide additional context, and the order adjusted to make it easier to read.)

Paopao was named All-Pac-12 each of her three seasons at Oregon (first-team twice and honorable mention). She averaged 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists for her career and started all but one game. 

Did you know Dawn Staley before you entered the transfer portal?
Paopao: I didn’t like, know know her. I knew of her, what her program was about, but I didn’t think she was gonna give me a call.

How did you connect with South Carolina?
Paopao: Coach Staley actually called my high school coach, and my high school coach called me. She was like, hey, South Carolina wants to talk to you. I was like, who? Coach Staley South Carolina? She’s like, yeah, they just gave me a call and they want to call you. I was on my way to class. I had to like, pull over and talk to Coach Staley. I was like, give me a call right now.

What class was it?
Paopao: It was a sociology class. Yeah, early in the morning. 8:30.
Did you get there on time?
Paopao: I did. Yeah.

Did you know right away that you wanted to come here or did you consider anywhere else?
Paopao: I did consider somewhere else. But I think I knew in my heart that it was going to be South Carolina. It sealed the deal when I took a visit.
(…) First time around I wanted to stay as close as possible to home and then this time around, I wanted to win, no matter where that took me and it took me on the other side of the United States.

What’s the biggest difference between Columbia and Eugene?
Paopao: Honestly, I think they’re basically the same. Not very much going on. My apartment is across the street. It was across the street at Eugene, so you just walk across. Not very much. But I will say the culture is different. A lot of diversity for sure. It’s been fun.

You come from a power five, so is the transition any easier to a different league? 
Paopao: Some of the concepts here we did learn at Oregon. At Oregon, they’re really known for their pick and roll. They actually run some here at South Carolina. So far, what we’ve learned.  Obviously, the PAC 12 and SEC is two different conferences. The Pac-12 is slower-paced, very methodical, and the SEC (snaps fingers) bam, bam, bam, bam, faster pace. It’s definitely gonna be a little adjustment for that, but I’m really excited for that and just play against the competition. that the SEC has provided.

Although she doesn’t have the name recognition or production of Aneesah Morrow or Hailey Van Lith, Paopao was still one of the top players in the transfer portal. She was also a perfect fit for South Carolina, who needed a veteran lead guard who could help Raven Johnson with ball-handling duties and add some scoring punch to the backcourt.

Where do you think you’ll fit in with this team? What expectations do you have for yourself?
Paopao: I’m expecting high expectations. I came in to lead and lead this young team to what I want as a player here. I want to win a national championship, but first we’ve got to have that cohesiveness and team chemistry together. I think that’s what we’re working on this summer and it’s been going really well.

What is it about your game that fits into that and you feel like can elevate this program?
Paopao: You’re definitely gonna see my leadership. I think I’ve got that voice on the team if you can’t tell by my voice. A lot of players lead in their own way. I’d say I’m the most vocal leader, but some are you know, that leader like hey, like you got to do this to that, like (Ashlyn Watkins) is one of them. She’s one of them quiet leaders that brings you aside and tell you what you need to do. But I’m more of the vocal outburst type of leader which I can attest to. I’m fine with that role.

Is it hard to figure out the leadership with the freshies gone?
Paopao: Yeah, for sure. I think Breezy, Sania, and Ashlyn have been doing a great job leading our team. They’re the veterans. They’ve been here for, you know, more years than us and they know what the culture is like. So I’m just going based off what they are doing, and I’m leading in my own way.

What does that look like actually trying to take that leadership role?
Paopao: I think that’s a great question. I think I am definitely the voice of the team. I’ve been through some stuff. I am a senior, a veteran. So I kind of know what I’m talking about. I just really have to earn that trust and respect for my teammates to know that I do know that I’m leading and they trust me to put them in the right place, put them in the right positions to share the wealth.

You mentioned culture twice now what does South Carolina culture mean to you?
Paopao: They’re here to get better. They have a ‘be great’ mentality and just want to get better in the gym and learn off of each other and just get each other better and push each other.

What are you looking forward to the most about the start of the season?
Paopao: Just being able to play with so much talent. They’re really talented team, and just being able to have South Carolina across my chest.

Paopao checked off all the boxes for what South Carolina needed in a transfer guard, and then some. She shared ball-handling duties at Oregon and also played off the ball. Paopao was also one of the best three-point shooters in the country last season (81-191, 42.4%), and the Gamecocks’ struggles from behind the arc likely cost them the national semifinal against Iowa.

Did you look at South Carolina’s shooting woes and say, I have a role here?
Paopao: Yeah, I did actually. Watching them in the Final Four, I was like, dang, that could be me out there shooting the ball.

You talked about having a pass-first mentality but your numbers say you’re also really good shooter. Do you have the green light there? 
Paopao: Oh, I feel like I do have the green light. But I definitely gotta, you know, earn that right and practice and then the gym so I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing and, you know, have that trust of my teammates.

How do you foresee playing alongside Raven Johnson? She’s got the year in the system. Two years with the redshirt. (This was in early July while Johnson was in Mexico playing in the AmeriCup Tournament.)
Paopao: I’m super excited. She’s been balling at (AmeriCup). She looks really good. She’s improving in her mid-range and her IQ of the game, so I’m really excited to help her and her help me and the whole team help me. I’m just really excited to play alongside her.

How about infrastructure, things like NIL, towards training, towards everything here? Is it similar to Oregon?
Paopao: Well, I have to say that Oregon is a Nike school. Some of the nicer facilities, more than I’ve seen here. But I didn’t come to South Carolina for that. You know, we were gifted a lot at Oregon, but here at South Carolina, you just got to keep your head down and just work. Do what you can.