Te-Hina Paopao gave a "cold shoulder" to South Carolina teammates upon first visit after transfer portal decision: "I'm sorry for acting like this"

South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao admitted she initially gave a cold shoulder to her teammates upon her first visit to the school. The 5-foot-9 guard revealed her actions on Thursday's episode of "The Coop with Olivia Thompson."

Upon transferring from Oregon, Paopao wanted everyone to know she came to South Carolina only to play basketball. So she gave a 'cold shoulder' treatment to her teammates who wanted to know her better.

"During the visit, I just gave them a cold shoulder and, you know, 'I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to do that,' like, everything's strictly business — school and basketball," the South Carolina guard told host and former Gamecocks player Olivia Thompson (31:21)

"I'm not going to hang out with none of them, at all. So they thought I wasn't going to come. But in my head I was like: 'I'm going to come here. I'm sorry for acting like this.'" Paopao added (31:28).

The South Carolina guard admitted the experience was problematic, as she had caught a red eye (sore eyes) that morning. Two days after arriving from Oregon, she was asked to attend a photoshoot and a campus tour while still adjusting to the school's surroundings.

The negative first impression didn't last long. But it was evident that some of her teammates didn't like her, adding that she deserved that reaction.

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Brutal summer training helps Te-Hina Paopao get comfortable with her teammates

South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao eventually got comfortable with her teammates while preparing for the 2023-24 season. She describes the training as brutal as it could get.

They were told to perform non-stop running during practice to get in shape for the next stage of preparations. She even told Olivia Thompson the last four Fridays were horrible and they were running out of energy.

"I was like: 'Did I like make the right decision coming here? What are we doing?' I mean, freshman coming in and a whole new team we didn't know how to act. We didn't know how to be around each other," she said (34:28).

That brutal summer helped her become closer to her teammates. Eventually, the hard training bonded them as a group, who would achieve a rare perfect season, winning 38 straight games. The exceptional year was capped off by winning the third national championship for South Carolina.

Te-Hina Paopao was one of the team's top scorers that season, averaging 11.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 46.8% shooting from the 3-point land. She would resume her fifth year and second with the Gamecocks this season and continue to be one of the team's top contributors.