Te-Hina Paopao - A look back at South Carolina star's early basketball career

South Carolina Gamecocks senior guard Te-Hina Paopao led her team to the NCAA championship game before they were defeated 82-59 by Geno Auriemma's UConn on Sunday.

The 5-foot-9 shooting guard talked about her career at the Gamecocks:

"Proud, happy, excited or excitement. I'm just really blessed to be able to play for this program, and they invested in a girl who wanted to look for a home in them. This is my forever home, and I was just so blessed to play for this program, and I know we came up short, but I'm just happy that the story is going to keep going."

Paopao, who was born on Aug. 21, 2002, started her high school basketball career at La Jolla Country Day School in La Jolla, San Diego, California. Furthermore, she played U16 basketball when she was just 10 years old.

After suffering injuries in the first two years of high school, Paopao posted averages of 22.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals per game in her senior year. She also led her team to a 32–1 record and the Southern California Open Division regional title before the state championship game was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, she was the 2020 California Ms. Basketball and was selected for the 2020 McDonald's All-American team.

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14-year-old Te-Hina Paopao was invited to practice with 2-time WNBA champion Kelsey Plum

In a conversation with ESPN's Mirin Fader in 2017, three-time WNBA All-Star Kelsey Plum talked about training with Te-Hina Paopao when she was just 14 years old:

"She's just never scared. It's like a fearlessness but a confidence that she has ... I think she could start in the Pac-12 right now ... Honestly, I think she could be the best to come out of San Diego."

Plum said Paopao was the only kid that she would allow to train with her:

"Even to this day, when I go back, that's the only kid I would let work out with me because she can hang with the intensity ... She pushes me because I'm like, 'I can't let a 12-year-old beat me in this shooting drill.'"

Te-Hina Paopao had offers from top programs, including California, Oregon State and UCLA, among others, before she committed to Oregon and then moved to South Carolina in 2023.