"OK, that's kind of weird": Te-Hina Pao Pao reveals Dawn Staley's peculiar habit left her shocked when she joined South Carolina
South Carolina women's basketball star Te-Hina Pao Pao revealed what she found weird about Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley when the senior guard first joined the program in 2023. With three NCAA national championships and nine SEC regular-season championships, Staley is regarded as one of the best coaches in women's college basketball. But her achievements came at a certain price.
The Gamecocks coach is not known for taking timeouts during games. Pao Pao revealed how Staley's practice left her confused at the beginning.
"It was honestly a shock,” Pao Pao said, according to the Greenville (S.C.) News. “(Opponents) would go on a run, and usually coaches would call timeout, but she never did. So, I was like, ‘OK, that’s kind of weird.'”
However, the fifth-year guard said she got to like how Staley does things, including allowing her players to figure things out on their own during play because she trusted them. Pao Pao also said she got to dislike timeouts because they disrupted the flow of the game.
Te-Hina Pao Pao's defense saves South Carolina's NCAA Tournament title dream
South Carolina had a disastrous start to its NCAA Tournament 64-53 second round win against Indiana on March 23. However, senior guard Te-Hina Pao Pao stepped up, locking down the defense with a career-high four blocks and added nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.
"You've just got to stay calm and be consistent," Pao Pao said, according to the Greenville News. "You can't go too high with the highs and too low with the lows. When you've got a team like us, they trust you. They have confidence in you. When you play for (Staley), she does a really good job with that and putting her trust in you."
The Gamecocks scored an abysmal 25 points with 34% shooting in the first half. With South Carolina trailing 26-25, Pao Pao made a layup from Bree Hall's pass to start the second half. Then, she spent time marking Indiana's Shay Ciezki. Her efforts paid off as she stole the ball from Ciezki and found Raven Johnson on the run, who swung it cross-court for Hall for a 3-pointer.
With four seconds left on the shot clock, Pao Pao shot another 3-pointer and sealed the win that ensured Dawn Staley's team stayed in the title race.
On Friday, South Carolina (34-3) and Texas (35-3), both No. 1 seeds and the co-SEC regular-season champions, meet in the Final Four.