‘She’s a really special girl’: USC’s Te-Hina Paopao to face familiar foe in Sweet 16
Sydney Parrish remembers when Te-Hina Paopao would show up to their practices at Oregon in pajama pants and a beanie.
Pretty unsuspecting for a five-star basketball recruit. But don’t be fooled.
“She’ll still just tear you apart,” Parrish said Thursday with a smile.
Paopao and Parrish were two of five five-star recruits in Oregon’s No. 1 2020 class. Now each member shines at different schools, four of which are in Albany for the Sweet 16: Paopao with undefeated South Carolina, Parrish with Indiana, Kylee Watson with Notre Dame (though she’s sidelined with an season-ending ACL injury) and Angela Dugalić with UCLA. Paopao and Parrish will take the court with each other for the first time since 2022 Friday, as the Gamecocks and Hoosiers compete for a spot in the Elite Eight.
The two first met as roommates their freshman year of high school at USA Basketball U-17 tryouts. They spent a week together but never exchanged any words. The memory makes Parrish chuckle now, considering the boisterous and funny Paopao she’s come to know.
They reunited at Oregon and spent two years together in Eugene. It’s bittersweet to think of what could’ve been had all five freshmen (Paopao, Parrish, Watson, Dugalić and current Kentucky Wildcat Maddie Scherr) stuck together, Paopao said Thursday, but she believes they’d make up the No. 1 team in the country.
Though no longer teammates, the five Ducks signees remain close. This past summer they went to Florida State. A group of half football players and half women’s basketball players, all of whom started at Oregon and transferred elsewhere, traveled south to meet a friend at Florida State. They talked about life post-Eugene and recalled tales of shared seasons gone by.
Paopao laughed remembering Parrish trying (and failing miserably) to guard Taylor Mikesell every practice before Mikesell left Oregon for Ohio State in 2021.
“She’d be like, ‘T-Mike, can you stop scoring on me?’” Paopao said, nearly cackling at the memory. “It was the funniest thing ever because they always picked on her on defense.”
Paopao remembers other things, too, though. Like how Chipotle was Parrish’s restaurant of choice, how she always rocked “girly” designer outfits and how she loved the color pink so much it was the theme of her room.
Seeing her former teammates thrive elsewhere makes Paopao happy. She smiled recalling their successes, but scrunches her face into a frown recalling Watson going down in the ACC Tournament. The news of her best friend’s injury brought Paopao to tears. If South Carolina and Notre Dame win their Sweet 16 games Friday, Paopao and Watson will see each other on opposite ends of the floor Sunday in the Elite 8.
Parrish has been watching Paopao and USC all season and texted her throughout to share how proud she is of her. Although Friday’s South Carolina-Indiana game is more about business than heartfelt reunions (Paopao said she’ll hug Parrish after the final buzzer sounds), Parrish is excited to see her former teammate this weekend.
“She’s a really special girl. ... You saw her last season at Oregon, she didn’t look like she played happy,” Parrish said of Paopao. “And just seeing her with the joy on her face that she has and playing under such a great coach of Dawn Staley, just so happy for her.”
Later at MVP Arena in Albany, Paopao appeared emotional hearing a retelling of Parrish’s comment: “It brings a lot of joy, and knowing that I did make the right decision. ... I’m really happy she said that. It brings so much joy to my heart knowing that I look visibly happy out there.”
South Carolina WBB vs. Indiana game info
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (34-0) vs. No. 4 Indiana (26-5)
Where: MVP Arena in Albany, New York
When: 5 p.m. Friday
TV: ESPN
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
Betting line: South Carolina by 15.5 points (ESPN BET)
Next up: The winner of South Carolina-Indiana will advance to an Elite Eight game on Sunday afternoon and will face either No. 2 Notre Dame or No. 3 Oregon State (those two teams play each other earlier Friday in Albany)
