Te-Hina Paopao

This week we’ve got South Carolina’s senior sharpshooter, Te-Hina Paopao, on the pod! Haley and Te-Hina discuss the Gamecocks’ dominance in the rankings, transferring from Oregon to South Carolina, and coming up with Kelsey Plum as a mentor.

1. UConn rivalry, SEC and PAC-12 differences (4:40)⚔️
2. The freshmen this year, LSU matchup, MiLaysia Fulwiley (11:26)🏀 
3. Aneesah Morrow, Hannah Hidalgo, Marquesha Davis (24:20)📋
4. Basketball roots, working out with KP, Oregon  (28:15)🦆
5. Transfer portal, getting the call from Dawn, preseason ranking (43:15)🔀📞
6. Te-Hina’s leadership role, South Carolina’s depth (52:50)🫡
7. Haley’s Question of the Day, Vibe Check (1:02:05)⁉️✅

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Honestly, I answered my name in the portal and then
I think Mark got the head coaching job at TCU,
and I was like, oh done, deal, Like I'm gonna
I'm gonna go to TCU. I'm gonna play for Mark
because he's the one that recruited me to Oregon. Yeah,
and so I really loved him and joby, I'm gonna
be a frog like absolutely, like give me the like
send the papers, like you don't even got to talk

(00:22):
to me. And then I get a call from TVAM.
She goes, hey, South Carolina wants to talk to you.
What oh South Carolina like Don Staley me, I'm like,
do they have your what? Like they want to talk

(00:42):
to me? Talk about Sorry, don No, not gonna answer
your call. Like that's crazy, Like who's gonna say no
to Don? And so I was driving I get a
call from a from her mm hmmm, and I had
to pull over and she's like, Hey, this is Don,
this is coach Boyer's Well from South Carolina and we
just want to give you a call to know that

(01:03):
we're interested and that we want you and come on over.
And I'm like, okay, coach, Like, let me call my
parents real quick, and you know, let him know that
Don has called me. I'm blessing really hard. I'm like, wow,
I just really talked to Don Staley. And so it's
funny because I called my dad and I was like, Dad,

(01:25):
guess who just called me? He was like who. I
was like, uh, South Carolina, Don Staley, game Cocks, that's
just who call. That's who called me? M And he
was like what and I was like yeah, you just
started laughing hysterically and I was like yeah, Like they
want to talk to you, they want to schedule a visit,
they want to get everything. And so I mean when

(01:45):
you get a call from Don, you know you got
to take a visit. You gotta do the whole campus visit,
you know all that stuff. So you know, from that,
I was like, okay, yeah, South Carolina just signed my name,
Like just make a looking from me already, like and
I think let's sealed. It was just how authentic she
is the campus visit, that's solidified to everything, and knowing that,

(02:08):
like she is who she is on camera off the court,
on the court, and I think that's what got me
the most, is just how authentic she is and how
real she is I mean a lot of coaches say
they're real, but they're not really real. Like she'll say
it in front of your face. Oh yeah, Like she
don't care, like she's not afraid, Like like that's the
type of person that I wanted to play for, someone

(02:30):
who will tell you the real even though you don't
want to hear it. And so I was like, sorry, Mark,
you know.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Welcome back to sometimes I hoop. Today, we've got a
fellow Cali Hooper on the pod. Quick Humble bragged McDonald's
All American, two time All Pack twelve, a thousand.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Point club member.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I used to hate seeing her on the Scout, but
I don't have to deal with that anymore. None other
and formal facts arrival. But now South Carolina superstar Tahina
pop out.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Thanks popping on the pod. Wow that was really good.
Oh thank you. I try.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Okay, well, we'll hop into things hop in basketball in
a second. But I feel like in college so much
changes from freshman to senior year. So if you could
pick a song that represents like your freshman year to
then like a song that represents senior year, I know
for me, freshman year was probably like something really sad,
just you know, working through the trenches. But senior year

(03:30):
was giving very much like I don't know, on top
of the World, Meg thee, Stallion, Nikki, something like that,
something very up tempo.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
So what would yours be? One song to describe that?

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, like freshman year or one song for senior year.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Freshman year, wow, those during COVID years, it was a
lot of yeah, sad music. M hm, been there the
solo dell O times. Yeah, yeah, wow, that's a good
I actually don't have a song.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
For that's okay, that's okay. I know freshman year in
COVID was a lot and I remember working y'all. We'll
get into that later. But I remember about you and Taylor,
you and Taylor getting left somewhere, and we'll dive into that.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
But starting to choose the song now, sorry, okay, I
probably like life is like a Highway or something like that. Yeah,
the car song. Yeah, oh okay, Yeah, I like it.
It's a little out of the park, but I like it. Okay.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Well, jumping into current basketball news. You had a great
game yesterday, huge win. First off, you went off for
twenty one points five or seven from three.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
You're hot from the jump.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
You start off your team with five points, So how
does it feel to kind of get out there and
set the tone early in such a high stakes game
like that?

Speaker 1 (04:58):
Then it felt really great. I mean the last couple
of games, I haven't obviously, I haven't been shooting the
ball really well. But it started off really great, scoring
the first five points, knowing, Okay, yeah, this is gonna
be a great game for me and the team. So
I just had to set the tone early offensively because
we know we had a lot to do on a
defensive end, and so it was just it felt very
good coming on my hands in first two shots, So

(05:19):
I knew it was gonna be a good game.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
I mean, yeah, I feel like knowing and playing against you,
you get that first one off.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
It's like, oh damn.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Other kids like, yeah, you can't have that because then
you're just pulling and it's like what are we supposed
to do now? It changes every if the first one
goes because like if you missed the first shot, it's like,
all right, let me cool it.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
That's how I'm I'm like, okay, exactly, yeah, let's distribute.
But if you're hot, you're hot, give me that.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Oh yeah, give me the ball, but I mean Yukon
South Carolina I feel like in recent years has really
kind of like had this rivalry starting up. So was
that a game you had circled on the calendar or
what were the vibes heading into that because it was
close to a So what was that like?

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Well, the game that was circled for our team was
an LSU game, that college game Day, that whole atmosphere
and everything, but then the next one had to be Yukon. Yeah,
because Yukon in South Carolina is such a good rivalry,
especially for women's basketball, and years past, I know it's
been the opposite where Yukon's been blowing them out, and
now it's like recently it's like South Carolina is now

(06:23):
winning a lot of games against them. So it was
an important game for us to win and know that
was going to be a big game and everyone had
to step up. No, for sure, I don't mean you
guys rose to the occasion as we saw, but I mean,
you Can's a tough team, and you guys are number
one right now.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
But I feel like not even just number one, like
only undefeated team number one, but I feel like the
level of college basketball has grown so much since I
was a school win, since you're a freshman senior year,
So what is it like prepping for a team where
they have a lot of different weapons just like you
guys do, so you know every matchup is going to
be hard and there's a lot of different schemes. I know,

(06:57):
don be on her p's and q's with that scouting report,
So what is that like kind of prepping for a
game like that schematically?

Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, No, the coaches did a great job doing our scout.
I mean they were tireless hours just getting us prepared
and ready and we just got to executed. And our
main plan was to stop the duo Page and Edwards.
That was our main priority and I thought we did
a great job with that, especially with Breezy guarding Page
and having Ashland guard Edwards and different rotations. And I

(07:27):
think that's what separates our team from the rest is
out our bench. It brings so much spark and just
how many weapons Yukon have, it was just too much
for them because of our bench and just how we
can just rotate players in and out for the whole
forty minutes. And it was just crazy to have nah.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
For real, like y'all Southern endless.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
Like I think a lot of teams don't go into
their bench like that, and even when they do, there
may be a drama, but y'all come in. It is
a starting lineup.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Like if I was the other team, I would be like,
come on. Like I feel like usually on a scouting
where you're like, okay, this girl's coming in, all right,
well sag, we can't help y'all come in.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Y'all come in. It's like, all right, number one defender
goes on her now like it's hard, But that just
that just speaks of the talents. Yeah, it's just a
wave of talent. You know, you get the first five
and then you're like there's like no drop off on
the scanner report. You got to scout one through ten,
one through twelve, and then it's just crazy. I would

(08:25):
hate to be the video coordinator. Oh god, endless hours
from there.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
But I mean, playing a team like Yukon headed into
like last stretch of conference is kind of different. And
so how do you feel like a game like this
that such high stakes impacts kind of like the rhythm
of conference play as you head into SEC tournament and
then the march madness. But you have this huge game
like towards the end of your conference play, So what

(08:50):
is that kind of is that disrupting the SEC rhythm
or how does that.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
Work in the locker room being able to prep for
a game like this. I think it flows right into
the conference. I mean, AS is probably the toughest conference
in the country. I mean, you played in PAC twelve
and played against SEC teams, so it's a very tough
conference to play, and I thought it just flowed right
into it. And now we're just getting to play Tennessee,
which is really good for us because you come prepared us.

(09:15):
And I thought it was just a great game to
have just to keep flowing, keep everything flowing. So I
love playing the games that we have on the schedule
that Coach Don has scheduled has prepared us very well.
And then we also played our butts off without our
key piece, Miller, So I thought it was a very
great showing for us. Oh for sure.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
It was definitely like a statement of dominance for y'all
one hundred percent. And you touched on it a little
bit about coming from the PAC twelve, And I feel
like people on the outside who don't play they talk
about this difference of styles of play from West Coast
kind of Southern basketball. So it talk to me a
little bit. Yeah, it talks to me a little bit
about that switch up of style of play from the
pack to SEC because it is so different.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, I mean, I mean being Pali girls, you know,
Callie's like super laid back and just yeah, you know,
everything comes to us and just like very chill vibes,
and that's what PAC twelve is. They're just really laid back,
but at the same time, really tough to play. Yeah,
and it's just it's very very different. I mean PAC
twelve is like very methodical, very scout oriented, very you know,

(10:20):
run the plays and run this and just like play
within the system and find yours within that system. And
I think SEC is just super athletic and it's just go,
go go, and just like athletic, crazy athleticism, I mean crazy.
They made me feel soone athletic. It's just like crazy,
just the difference of style of play and the style

(10:42):
of how different systems are and it's just it was
an eye opener for sure, but like we already knew
that SEC was like that, and just playing the conference
is just mind blowing. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
No, it's so different, and I feel like you kind
of see it, but I bet for you playing in both,
it's like it's too it's two sides to space, like
there's opposite, it's complete opposite. But I mean kind of
jumping into a landscape right now. I feel like we
talked a little bit about the talent level across the
board SEC Top to bottom, Pack twelve, top to bottom.

(11:16):
The list goes on and on, But have there been
any specific players that you feel like we're kind of
slept on maybe last year beginning of this season that
have really come out and surprised you and been like,
oh wow, like they're a problem. We're now circling them
on the scout. They've really come into their own this season.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
We're talking about SEC or PAC twelve because I've been
keeping any players Oh wow, oh yes, you want, you
can give me any as you like. I'm gonna have
to give it to the freshies this year. Man. Yeah, firstmakers,
I mean you got did you walk in? You got
Hannah Hilldogo, you got my Las who I play with. Yeah,
it's just a spectrum of players that have been balling

(11:52):
and like throughout each conference, it's just crazy. I think
the most mind blowing was the freshman this year coming
into into college. I mean, you don't really see these
type of freshmen with these type of games day in
and day out, like I've been in college, like you've
seen it. Like there's no freshmens that are like built
like this, And it's just crazy how each conference has

(12:12):
their own special freshmen and it's just crazy to watch.
And I'm really excited for their journey, oh for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
And like you said, like it's not like a one
hit wonder.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
It's day in and day out the same thing. There's
no one hitters, but it's it's wild.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
And I feel like there's also been a lot of
teams this season, Like I don't know about y'all, but
I knew Kansas State was good, but like at one
point there were number two. I was like, oh snap,
watching them for the first time, I'm like, oh wow,
Like there Lee, oh missus starting to come into their
own every season. So what do you feel like are
some of those sleeper teams that have really come out
this season and been like like there's a huge jump

(12:48):
from last year.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Wow, that's a really good question. Oh wow, I don't
know Wow, let me see now I had to think
about this. Okay, well, I feel like one of us,
I'm not a question I was expecting. Okay, well one
for me.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
I know they were your old rivals, but like Oregon State,
Oh my gosh, I.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
Just yeah, I think that's a yeah, that's a big one. Yeah,
I have to say that's a really big one for sure.
Oregon State's big. I don't know. I feel like, let
me think across the ACC. It's honestly because like the
number two curse. Have you heard of that one? Yeah,
the two team curse. Like thinking about that is just

(13:27):
like wow, like every team that's been number two has
been beaten, which is like super crazy. So it's like
thinking about like other teams, like I can't even think
about other teams that like we're really sleeping on because
I wasn't really focused on other teams like that.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
I mean, you're at the top, you're at the top,
you're chilling.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
But I think A State as well, I mean they've
always been good, but like this year has been crazy good.
A House State has always been good. They're doing pretty
good as well. Texas is up there as well.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
Mm hmmm, No, I think I think teams have really
been like up and down.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
To be honest, there really hasn't been you know, consistent.
I mean after us not, there hasn't been. There hasn't
been another unbeaten team.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
So yeah, you gotta say, but I mean you're completely right.
I think that a lot of teams like there's not
that standout like their next best. And I think that's
a lot of the conversation right now is heading into
the tournament March madness, like who are gonna be those
other top contenders because it's so up and down two
through twenty five and beyond all over the place. Every

(14:35):
week it's like they're up ten, they're down five, and
it's like where where do we follow?

Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yeah, so it's I think it's really hard. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, but let's talk a little bit about the SEC.
It's in full swing right now. Besides LSU, you guys
have won all your conference games.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
By at least seventeen, Like, give them a chance, but
you're averaging you're averaging twelve points and forces and obviously
even dominating. But it's gonna be another good one for you.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
What's a game that you know, you guys may have
blown out a team or you played great, but statistically
Don was like, no, I don't care how much we
won by because I know she gives you those She's like,
I don't care.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
We're still gonna get to practice, We're gonna watch the film.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
So what was a game where you know, you guys
may have won, but you guys didn't feel like.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
You came out the way that you needed to. It
has to be Vanderbilt the game. Let me play Vanderbilt here.
And that was after the LSQ game, Ok. And I
think the LSU game just took so much emotional, physical
like motion out of us, Like it was a really
big weekend, and I think we lived up to it,

(15:41):
but I think it just took so much out of
us to where we looked really slow and lazy and
lethargic like the first half coming out of Vanderbilt, because
I think that's how much of a big game LC was,
And that was probably the game where we were we
felt like we didn't play our best, but we still
won by a good amount out. Yeah, And I think

(16:01):
you could tell from the outside everyone knew how much
of the LSU game took out of us, just how
we played against Vanderbilt, and we felt it as a team,
but like we couldn't do anything about it. We just
had to keep playing and keep playing our game and
just trust each other that we're gonna pull this out. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
I mean the LSU game was huge for a variety
of reasons. But you know, I think last we've had
some other people on the podcast talk about how hard
it is to play in Baton Rouge, so it talk
to me a little bit, especially with the addition of
College game Day. What was that atmosphere, Like, oh my gosh,
it was crazy girl.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, yeah, oh my god, I bet it looked wid
you know. You oh my gosh. You get there like
two hours before the game, and we had to leave
early because of traffic. Yah. When we get there and
it's like full of fans all o my LSU gear.
We see everyone coming in the ramp and just on
top of the stadium and you just see so many

(17:02):
fans and it's just like wow. Like and then when
you get in, oh my gosh, crazy, crazy, crazy. We
get in there and the student sections already in there.
You know, we all come out, We all come out
for warm ups.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yes, like, you know, we go out.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
For warm ups and like the student sections already in there,
like the lower half is already filled, and it's like, crazy,
are you here? Boo? I'm like, we just got here.
What do you guys do?

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Like here, I remember here trying to do my dynamic
warm up getting booed.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
This is crazy. Yeah, And it was just a crazy,
crazy environment. I mean, that's probably the loudest environment I've
ever played in. And it was like a relatively like
small gym, like I think it like holds like thirteen thousand,
but like it was you could fill all thirteen thousand
fans like on top of you. Yeah. It was just Yeah,

(17:51):
I don't think I've ever go back one time and
I'm good.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
But I mean you talked about how much that game
it takes. It takes a lot out of you, even
though you guys want, it's still the prep. It's playing
in that environment. So you know, in the locker room,
what are those talks like to get your mindset prepared
to Already you come back into the locker room already
getting booed, and it's like, okay, now we got to
get back out there. There's gonna be more people, So

(18:19):
talk to me about the mindset of the locker room.
And how you guys were able to stay focused and
it wasn't an easy game. So what you know, what
were the talks like during but also just pregame to
get you guys ready for that type of environment.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
Pregame was just coach talking about how prepared we are
and how much we took so much of this scout
and we just have to execute the scout and just
go out there and play our game. And then the
first half came, you know, it's pretty pretty close and
a good game, and then halftime comes around and she's
just like, we can beat these guys. It's us. We're

(18:55):
beating ourselves up. We're we're a great team. We're doing
the scout really well. We're just beating ourselves up on
the offensive end and not sharing the ball how we
usually do. And that's what we have to do. We
have to get back to our game and be who
we are and don't lose who we are because of
how the crowd is and I know it's loud. We
just got to stick to who we are and play
our game because we're beating ourselves up and not sharing

(19:17):
our ball and not playing the game that we know
how to play. And so I think that just meant
a lot to us, and knowing that we haven't been
sharing the ball relatively well during that game. The first
half and then the second half is you know, the
rest is history.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, let's dive into that second half. The momentum shifted.
The momentum shifted completely for you guys in that second half.
So talk to me about what do you think was
kind of there's a moment in every game that changes that.
So what do you feel like maybe the shot, the
defensive possession that was like, okay, we're hitting our stride.
This is where we really got to kind of get going.

(19:52):
What was that momentum shift?

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Like, I think once we got it into Milla in
the inside, we had to definitely take advantage of that
as when we got recent foul trouble. I think that's
what the momentous shifted when she got that fifth fould
Raven and that was when we knew we had to
like attack the boards and attack inside because they didn't
have anything to stop Miller or a post. And I

(20:14):
think also was our bench production. Again, that's second five.
That second half is what gets teams really, you know,
out of shape, because we got ten they played at
least five to six, maybe seven, And so I think
that that wave of the bench is just you can't

(20:35):
stop it. Yeah, because they got fresh legs, fresh legs
against that six. Yeah, it's game over. It'd be's so annoying,
like when you're that six.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
If somebody comes in who hasn't played all game, if
they just start spreading down, it's like I.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
Need water, bro, I can't do this. Yeah, it's a lot,
It's a lot. That's such like that was up the separator,
especially when Ley had a big game that day. It
was just coming off the bench and knowing that she
can provide a very big, big spark for us and
knowing that we can rely on our bench unlike other teams,
and so our our team can definitely play the full forty,

(21:13):
especially with our wave of bench production.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, we'll talk to me a little bit about her,
because I remember when I watched that game, she came
in and didn't have the best start, but for her
to then be so young and come in the second
time and just have a fresh mindset and ready to go,
talk to me a little bit. What it's like to
have a freshman like that who is just like unwavering
confidence like they're gonna get out there and just do

(21:37):
whatever needs to be done to get it right. So
talk to me a little bit about her progression from
the beginning of the year to kind of the spark
that she's been giving you guys in recent games.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Yeah, I know, the beginning of the year it was
a little, you know, a little tricky then are yeah, yeah,
you know, how are they come in? Being in that
college is sweet when it's really not. But the beginning
of the year, you know, as a freshman you're gonna
learn a lot, and she has grown a lot. She
has grown tremendously throughout the year and the games, and

(22:07):
knowing that she could be the player who she is
and coming in like that and providing for us she
knows she can. She's a baller, she's a hooper. She's
gonna hoop no matter what. Like she's having bad games,
she's still gonna hoop no matter what. And so just
seeing her journey is tremendously great. And just knowing that
she's a great listener and knowing that she listens and

(22:28):
will reciprocate that energy back, and just just seeing her
ball and hoop. It's like day in, day out, she's gonna,
you know, hoop, and that's what she is. She's a
by nature and a hooper. You know. Don has instilled
so much confidence in her. I think that's what helps
her confidence on the court as well. Well.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
I think she's so much fun to watch, like your
whole time, man, and you know, I love watching you play,
but like she comes in and just brings a different vibe.
It's just like, yeah, sheifty and I'm like, whoa. I'm
more of a fundamental goal So I'm watching girls.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Please please girl. We both are fundamental girls. I've seen her.
When I see her do this stuff, she doesn't practice,
I'm like, oh my gosh, like I can't ever do that.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
It's like not even like that, But how do you
even think to do that?

Speaker 1 (23:17):
I'm thinking, like jab crossover tweet. And then she's like, oh, hezy, filet.
It's a little behind your back. This is like nothing new,
Like she does this in practice, Like you know, as
you know, practice is where you what you do in games,
and that's why she doesn't practice. You know, you may

(23:39):
turn over the ball and practice, but she don't do
it in the game. But that's where you gotta practice.
You gotta practice, everything that you do in the practice,
and so seeing her do that in the games and
having everyone watch, it's just a joy to watch. And yeah,
I know it's fire. Especially the first game. Oh my gosh.
In order that I was like, yeah, you know, her

(24:02):
little her little behind the back. I was like, oh wow, yeah,
she's a special, one said.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
And the first thing that first game of the season,
like you're in Paris doing that?

Speaker 1 (24:13):
What that's crazy?

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Oh my gosh. But switching gears for a second. We've
talked a lot about the amazing players in college basketball
right now, and so I don't need you to give
me like South Carolina secret scouting report, but I'm gonna
give you some names. And it's hard facing off against
some of these players. So I want you to.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Give give me a little bit of like a scout
or maybe what makes it so hard to try to
contain these players, because I feel like it used to be, oh,
forced her to do this, it's forced to do that.
But things have changed.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
When you're playing a player like Anissa Morrow or Handhild Doggo,
it's more like, okay, make this hard. Okay, they're not
maybe not as comfortable going this way. It's a different mindset.
So top first name, I already mentioned it, Anissa Morrow.
Give me what it's like to stop somebody like that.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
I mean she's a hooper as well. She's gonna she's
gonna play what you give her. And the main thing
was just a container mm hm. And she wasn't shooting
high percentages from the three, so we you know, give
her a little space, give her some space, play with space.
And she knocked down a couple of triples, but we'll
take those. I mean, she's out of ordinary for her

(25:24):
to make those type of shots. So the job was
a just container and that's a scout for l s.
U was just a boxer out. Yeah, box box them
out there. They're going to crash the boards. And that
was just the main thing. Container and box her out
box box box her out box, box box. But that
was a whole message.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, I bet because they be crashing that glass, I'll
be watching.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
I would not want to be down there, like, please
keep me on the periventer.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
I'll hit a little bit for I'm not trying to
be down there exactly. Yeah, but talking, we talked about
your parents game handheld dog who we mentioned earlier, talk
to me about what it's like scouting somebody like her,
you know on ball schemes. I'm sure you're doing a
lot of different stuff with ball screens and whatnot. So
what makes Hannah such a special player?

Speaker 1 (26:11):
Honestly, it was just an end game adjustment from her
because as a freshman, you know, some freshman your high
school game doesn't really relate to college. So we really
didn't have that much scout on her. We just knew
that she's shifty, she can score the ball, and we
were in for a roode awakening because she did more
than that, and I do a lot of game room. Yeah,

(26:35):
it was just a lot of in game adjustments from
her because Sony Citron was the main party and Matty
Westpell was our party on the scot Of report, so
Hildalgo just gave us a rude awakening. So it was
a lot of in game adjustment from her. But now
we know that she's a three level scorer and is
a very very good defender. Yes, well, I mean averaging

(26:57):
as many steels as she is, Like, what that is crazy?
I think she has the Yeah, she has more steals
in me than my whole career in college. Me too.
It's fine. Breaking too. Probably combined, she probably has more
steals us combined. She's still already passed. But you know,

(27:17):
it's cool. It's cool. Everybody has their strikes. It's fine. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
But the last player we'll get into is we talked
about o Miss earlier and I feel like somebody who's
really come into their own this year is Marquisha Davis.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
And like having a slasher like her on the wing.
She's a bucket and I like did not. I just
I feel like she's such a new player on the
on the rise for me. Yeah, no, she we had
Breezy Guarter. You know, Beeze's one of our good defenders
on our team. So yeah, we just had to get
get her out of rhythm. A lot of these players
are rhythm players, so we just we just had to

(27:51):
get her out of rhythm and make her do things
that she's not used to, like shooting three ball. She
doesn't have a hyph percentage shooting in the three ball,
so pressure with space, but be ready for her to
cut and be ready for her to tack the basket
because she's really fast. So that was really our main
priorty was to do things that she would do at
the ordinary and get her out of rhythm and make
her shoot threes.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Well back to you, superstar, Well dive into your basketball journey.
Grew grew up in Oceanside, California. Five siblings, started playing
ball at a young age.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
And at ten you were already on I know you
were on the radar as a fellow CALLI girl, I over,
You're hearing about this young' and so cow And I'm like,
first of all, isn't she in like middle school? Why
are we hearing about this ten year old? Ye?

Speaker 2 (28:34):
But talk to me about playing sixteen yu travel ball
when you were just ten? Like I might need a
picture this, I might need something, but talk to me
about it.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh no, girl, you don't need to know. I'm gonna
get the picture. I'm gonna text the fam.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
No.

Speaker 1 (28:51):
But it was interesting. I mean, growing up with siblings,
older siblings, you're just used to being competitive and being
tossed around like rab doll and being you know, the
little one to be picked on. So it wasn't really
nothing new playing with older people. But I knew that
it would make me better as a player and as
a person, So it wasn't really, you know, that big

(29:14):
of a deal. But at the same time, it was
really fun to play with older people and knowing that
I can compete with these type of players, and knowing
that my siblings.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
Have prepared me for this, so to prepare you for
anything like playing outside the cool de sac, it's a
lot of it's humble beginnings.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
Humble beginnings, absolutely for sure.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
And I know you went to the same high school
as Kelsey Plumb, and I remember hearing about how she
invited you to work out with her, and KP does
not invite people to work out with her, So for
you to be the only kid that she allowed, knowing
that you could keep up with her at that young
age and even push her was what.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
Was that like?

Speaker 2 (29:54):
Not only being able to work out with her at
such a young age, but I know she's a dolt,
She's a competitor guy, So what what is it like
getting to be in the gym with her that young man?

Speaker 1 (30:02):
I love KP. She's been an inspiration in my life
ever since I met her at ten years old. But
being invited by someone like her, who is such a
great and amazing player, it just spoke to me how
I could be a great player as well. And knowing
that I have the skills and the IQ to be
someone like her and play at such a high stage

(30:24):
and hype or such a big platform. And knowing that
that I'm being invited by such a great player is
telling me that I'm doing something right and that I
should keep doing it.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
Having somebody of her status that that young like point.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
Out you, it's like, oh stuff, Like I like that,
I got to be up for this gym with you, girl.
But like, besides KP, who did you find yourself looking
up to women's basketball players when you were young to
maybe model or game after or take bits and pieces
from different players. Honestly, took a lot of bits and
pieces from a lot of different players. I couldn't really

(30:59):
name that one player because I wanted to model my
game after a lot of people. So I just took
little bits and pieces from each player and added that
to my game. And you know KP has she's a hooper.
Oh my god, she's a straight dog. Everyone knows that.
And so it was just amazing and blessing to have
an opportunity because not a lot of people have an

(31:20):
opportunity at such a young age to be with the
pro hooper like that. And so that that status, and
so I just took little bits and pieces from everyone's
game that I grew up watching, and I even took
some from my brothers. Even you know that I'm not
really that good. I'm just like, I'm just ring. But
I think like there's just little highlights here and there.
Knowing that I add little bits and pieces to my

(31:41):
game as well, oh for sure.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
And I think that's what makes you such a great
well rounded player, is that your three level score and
you can't just guard.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
You one way because you have all these different things.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
It's like, okay, like we said earlier, if the first
shot doesn't fall, don't matter. I'm still impacting the game
in all these different ways, and if it does, you
better watch out because now I'm just so I think
it makes it such a hard scout, and I know
I had to deal with that, which was not fun.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
Just want to let you know, talking.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
A little bit about you know, us Cali girls in
the West Coast upbringing. I feel like West Coast basketball
gets a lot of hate and like West Coast has
some elite hoopers because people always like, oh, where the
best hoopers come from?

Speaker 1 (32:23):
Texas, New York. I'm like California.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Yeah, bro, talk to me about the Cali hoop culture
because I feel like we have some elite hoopers coming
out the West.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
I mean it has changed a lot. I mean the
AU scheme even throughout the whole country. Yeah, not even California,
but I feel like just AU in general has changed
a lot. I mean there's still some great Cali hoopers
hooping right now, but I just feel like everything has changed. Yeah,
And I can't really even speak on that because it's

(32:56):
not really even about basketball anymore, to be honest. It's
a lot of off course stuff and social media and like,
I don't think anybody plays the love for the game
anymore because of how it's about money and media and
all that. It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah no, I mean, well I'm asking you to talk
to me about that a little more. But I couldn't
agree more. I think that when we were growing up,
it was just like all of the best plays on
the Nike circuit because there wasn't the Adidas, there wasn't this,
there was like that.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
It was like it was the Nike circuit and I
have TikTok. I was on like.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Musically and triller, like doing dumb stuff like that would
not my focus. Like, yeah, you pull up, and I
just feel like there wasn't the same like how overtime
is now, That's not how it was.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
There was no like getting on the map.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
With social media. It was either you're a hooper or
you're not.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
And like, I think that there's so much more, like
you said, like the social media presences and that those
people will get blown up on this and that, and
then let's say you play them and you're like some
random hooper a town like we were. Yeah, Like I
grew up in there surfing beach town. Nobody knew who
I was. And I pull up and I'm like, let's
do it. And so talk to me a little bit

(34:07):
about what you see and kind of like that change
of basketball culture about there's a lot of hype behind
it nowadays, and I feel like sometimes the hype is
backed up and sometimes it isn't. Yeah, it's hard. I
mean it's hard to judge now because you you know,
when you were younger, you had to be in the
gym to go actually see that player play. Instead of

(34:29):
just looking up their name and seeing highlights of them,
you actually had to go to the gym to watch
them play. And it's just different now. I just feel
like people do it for views, for media and some
I mean, there are others that play for the love
of the game. But it's just hard to dictate how
good of a player you are based on highlights because

(34:50):
you just cut out the highlights that you do well
in and not put in the tiers you did or.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Like a highlight highlights, it looks like all American highlights.
I see somebody's highlight and I'm like, oh my god,
did the goat.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
You go play? And you're like, oh, yeah, like you're
pretty good.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
I thought I was about saying you like, my ankle's
broken every possession.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
It's a real yeah, exactly. And it's just it's just
the basketball world and the AAU world is just a
whole different It's a whole different scheme now. And so
I'm happy I don't play an AU anymore nowadays, because
when you were younger, it was just about memories and
being with the girls that you were with and just
having so much fun with them and just the memories
that you created. That was the most fun about AU

(35:32):
was just having so much fun with them off the court.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah, like take bonds you yeah, you bonds you so much,
like you don't even warm up for a game. You like,
eat some nachos, one right hand, layup, one left, and
forty coaches, let's go get a scholarship. It's crazy And
like exactly what you said about the highlight tape, I
feel like nowadays a college coach, I feel bad because
you could get catfished by like just in terms of

(35:58):
like their play. You see them, you're like, oh, she's
at the top of my list, and you pull up
and it's like, yeah, this recruit you what. Literally, it's
catfishing nowadays, which is why that was not a thing.
That was not a thing that was not But talk
to me a little bit about your recruiting process. You
were number eleven ranked recruit. But also what's different is

(36:19):
you went through your senior year of recruiting during COVID,
So like, did you take visits?

Speaker 1 (36:24):
Did you not?

Speaker 2 (36:24):
What was that experience kind of like picking a school
during COVID.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
Honestly, I committed before COVID, Oh you did. Yeah, I
committed a junior year, my junior summer year. So I
was going to play my last circuit when I committed Orgon, okay,
and so I only took one visit. I thought five
was a lot, and I don't think I wanted another
visit because I think the home visit is what did

(36:52):
it with me because my family was surrounded with me,
and then the campus visit was also like it's a
little fun and knowing that I was going to go there.
So I only took one visit. I kind of knew
from the home visit that I wanted to play at Oregon,
and so I just was like, you know, I want
to get this over with. I'm gonna commit to Orgon
before my summer summer circuit. Just have fun with it,

(37:14):
just go out and play and be who I am.
So I just wanted to do that before the whole
senior thing and just focus on basketball instead of focusing
on a college decision.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
Well, shoot, that sounds wonderful. I took all five visits, so.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
I was very incisive. I'm jealous that you knew.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
But talk to me a little bit about because I
feel like picking a college is such a big decision,
and like you pick when you're seventeen, and that's a
big life decision. So talk to me a little bit
about what set organ apart for you was there any
other school that kind of was second to Orgon that
was close or was it always like when you know,
you know, when you come on a home visit, you
get the vibes you knew it was going to be Organ.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
I actually had a top three. I had Believill Senego State,
you know, home being a home college, and then Organ. Yeah,
And so the reason why I didn't choose Louisville was
too far away from home. I wanted to stay on
the West Coast. I wanted to be close to family,
but far enough to where they couldn't you know, visit
me all the time. And then I decided sanego State

(38:20):
because I'm a family person, you know, playing from her family,
playing in front of them and knowing that I'm close
to home was dear to my heart. And then Organ
was just the spot where it was just perfect. It
was far away from home, but just enough to where
they wouldn't be with me every day, and I had
some isolation from being back home, So it was really

(38:43):
just a West Coast vibe and being home and knowing
that I'm kind of close to home but far enough
to where I can be who I am, be solo
dolo and just have fun with it.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Yeah, well, talk to me a little bit about your
freshman year. Organ It's a big jump obviously from high
school to colleg but also you're coming in behind a
class that just graduated with Sabrina, Ruthie Sattoo, like, there
was a lot of hype behind them. So coming in
starting freshman point guard, following up somebody like that class,
did you feel any pressure moving into your freshman year

(39:16):
or expectations kind of uphold that standard that they had
set before you guys got there.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
It was a little bit of pressure, especially with the
other four I came in with. We were the recruiting
class in the nation, so it was it was a
little bit of pressure. But it was hard as well
because of COVID. I mean, as you know, we had
to be isolated. We couldn't really spend time with each
other as much, and we were just stuck in our
apartments and we had to just be by ourselves. Even

(39:44):
though it was like that, it's still felt very close
with the freshmen, you know, I still talked to them
to this day. We're still besties. But it was just,
I mean, it was okay. It was an okay year
playing in front of sutouts. As you know, and I
mean your your journey through COVID was harder than us. Well,

(40:06):
our journey was hard. But tell me about you getting
left in Utah, because that's I didn't done. Girl. It
was a lot going into that, just a lot of
political stuff that I won't get into. But it was just,
you know, we get to Utah. You know, COVID tests,

(40:27):
you gotta swamp the nose and everything, and come to
find out three of the other girls were tested positive
and so they actually had to be helicopter back to Eugene.
And then yeah, they had to be helicopter because they
were positive for COVID. And then as you know, COVID,
what was it contact something like that? Oh my gosh, yes,

(40:53):
So it was contact tracing. So me and Mike we
were contact trace I think it was like fourteen minutes,
were contact traits for fourteen minutes. So yeah, there you go.
So they were gonna have they were gonna have me
and Mike stay in Utah for a week by ourselves
in a hotel room. They were literally gonna be like okay,
like you can door dash and like you can just

(41:15):
send us through his seats and everything. And we're like
you can't do nothing else, Like you can't like you're
not gonna leave me here. You can't get this like
a helicopter ride, Like you can't do that, like none
of that. Yeah. So Mark Campbell, God love him. Yeah,
he was og. He was a goat. He was like,
you know what, I'll drive you guys back to Eugene.

(41:40):
It was like it was like a thirteen hour drive.
And we were like Mark, like you don't really have
to do that. Like he was like no, like we
can't have you guys stuck here in Utah for a
week and you know, bench out for yourselves and figure
things out yourselves. And he was just like, you know,
I'll drive you guys. And so we had we had
like a big SUV and then we had like a

(42:01):
and then we had like a plastic thing to like separate,
separate stop Mark from us. Yes, we were recording to
the car and so it was me and Mike in
the back and then Mark was by himself in the front,
and it was like taped up. Everything was skipped up
in the car and like we were basically like two rooms,
like we were just separated from Mark and we would

(42:23):
just yell like Mark would like yell like, hey, are
you guys hungry? And we were like yeah, like can
we get like something to eat? And then like it
was just a crazy ride. I mean, thank you Mark
if you ever see this, but thank you for driving
us thirteen hours from Utah to Eugene. But it was
just a crazy time and like we had our pillows

(42:43):
in the back. Oh so me and Mike we're contact
tracing buddies. So I forgot about that. Oh my gosh,
that's actually funny.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
I'm so sorry for bringing up that trauma. So wow,
that's a lot. You probably dug that deep down, So
sorry for ye.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
It's like deep down inside. So's okay, you're a survivor.
It's fine, you made it. But okay, so Oregon freshman year,
it's hard COVID. But I mean, you guys had a
great few next seasons. But I want to get into
the transfer portal. And I think that there's a lot
of misconceptions about what it's like nowadays, and there's a

(43:19):
lot of reasons that go into it. It's for some people,
they're like oh, you know, people are like, oh, playing
time this or she's not the star, so she's gonna leave.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
But there's a lot of things that go into it.
So talk to me a little bit about what's the process,
Like was did you know did you have a school
in mind when you went to the portal or did
you just go in and be like I want to
find my new home and talk to a lot of
different coaches.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
Honestly, I nswered my name in the portal and then
I think Mark got the head coaching job at TCU,
and I was like, oh, done, deal, Like I'm gonna
I'm gonna go to TCU. I'm gonna play for Mark
because he's the one that recruited me to Oregon. Yeah,
and so I really loved him, and joby, I'm gonna
be a frog like oh absolutely, Like give me like
send the papers, like you don't even got to talk

(44:02):
to me. And then I get a call from TVAMM.
She goes, hey, South Carolina wants to talk to you.
What oh South Carolina? Like don Staley me, I'm like,
do they have your what? Like they want to talk

(44:22):
to me? Talk about Sorry, don no, not going to
answer your call? Like that's crazy, Like who's gonna say
no to down? And so I was driving I get
a call from a from her mm hmm, and I
had to pull over and she's like, hey, this is Don.
This is coach Boyer as well from South Carolina, and
we just want to give you a call to know

(44:42):
that we're interested and that we want you and come
on over. And I'm like, okay, coach, like, let me
go on my parents real quick, and you know, let
him know that Don has called me the phone. I'm
blessing really hard. I'm like, wow, I just really talked
to And so it's funny because I called my dad

(45:03):
and I was like, Dad, guess who just called me.
He was like who. I was like, uh, South Carolina,
don't stay game Cocks, that's just who. That's who called me.
And he was like what and I was like yeah.
We just started laughing hysterically and I was like yeah,
like they want to talk to you, they want to
schedule a visit, they want to get everything. And so

(45:24):
I mean, when you get a call from Dawn, you
know you got to take a visit. You gotta do
the whole campus visit, you know all that stuff. So
you know, from that, I was like, okay, yeah, South
Carolina just signed my name, Like just make it looking
from me already, like and I think let's stealed. It
was just how authentic she is the campus visit, that's

(45:46):
solidified to everything and knowing that, like she is who
she is on camera off the court, on the court,
And I think that's what got me the most, is
just how how authentic she is and how real she is.
I mean a lot of coaches say they're real, but
not really real, like she'll say it in front of
your face. Oh yeah, Like she don't care, like she's
not afraid, Like like that's the type of person that

(46:08):
I wanted to play for, someone who will tell you
the real even though you don't want to hear it. Mhm.
And so I was like, sorry, Mark, you know when
but I got to go to a different route. You know,
I'll love towards you in the program, but I just
felt like coaching that was South Can I was gonna
be the perfect fit for me.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Yeah, well, I think that's so amazing that like from
one call with Dawn, you know, it's it's so hard
to say no, and it's like having a coach like
that who is so honest, and it's also it's different
like she played and so when she tells you something
that you don't want to hear.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
It's like, what am I gonna do? Say she doesn't
know what she's talking about, Like she knows, she knows exactly,
like she's chair Yeah, yeah, for sure. But it was
just man, I mean she called me the next day,
we already scheduled to visit and stuff like that, and
it's just like, yeah, I'm coming here, but I just

(47:07):
needed a few days to, you know, soak everything in
because this was gonna be a really important decision of
my life. Like it could have been a really bad
or really great decision and ended up being a really
great decision. So everyone can have their misconceptions about the
transfer portal and everything about that, but I ended up
getting the the greater good of that aspect.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Yeah, you're where you're supposed to be, which is amazing.
I'm so happy for you. But it's hard. Transferring is hard.
I feel like, you know, you go through the recruiting
process all over again, which isn't the most fun, but
you pull up to a new campus and it's kind
of like a bit of freshman nerves all over again.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
You're the new kid on campus.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
You're coming into a team, who's in the final four
last year? So what was it kind of like, you know,
Colombia is very different from Eugene, So what was it
like the adjustments getting there? I bet Don's practices are hard,
like just all those different things that goes into that transition.
Talk to me about that adjustment period.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Oh man, just being Mack great memories. It was just
so much fun. I think coming in it was actually
a new team as well. You have the freshmans graduated,
You had players that haven't really played on such a
big platform because they were playing it behind such a
great starting five, and you know the freshies, and so

(48:25):
I think all around, I came into a new team
as a new player, So it kind of flowed in
very well. It was a very smooth transition from day one,
and you can kind of feel it from the from
the summer man then summer workouts. In summer practices were
different on and off the court. Girl, I mean it

(48:46):
was crazy, like there was some off court stuff that
was like why are you doing this? Like like why
are you acting like that? Like, you know, as a
senior and you see them as a freshman, I'm like, okay,
but you know, freshmen never really acted like that, but
it is like, you know, we had to run, We
had to run for things that were so unnecessary because
people didn't want to take care business off the court.

(49:07):
And so in my mind, I was like, dang, did
I really make the right decision? Like what is this?
Because why why am I running for this and that?
And like I think everyone was just like are we
going to be a good team? Like what kind of
team are we going to be? Because of how much
we were like off like this stuff off the court.
It was just like really, like are we really gonna

(49:32):
do this? Like you didn't know what was going to
happen the day after, Like, yeah, them summer workouts were crazy,
but it was very funny. I mean looking back at
it now and being the number one team in the country,
we didn't not think we was going to be the
number one team in the country the way we were
acting and being in practice and being in them workouts.

(49:52):
But yeah, you know, Don's always gonna get her team straight,
no matter that, she's gonna get them disciplined, is gonna
get them right, and so yeah, looking back at it,
I think everyone's gonna agree with me and how much
doubt we have each other the growth, yea, how much
doubt we had with each other during the summer. It

(50:13):
was like, Wow, what kind of team are we going
to be? Like are we even gonna be in the
top ten? Like we're not, We're not getting down to
business as we should be. But man, things have changed
and our journey as a team has been a great one. Yeah. Well,
I mean from the sounds of that, and then you
guys get kind of I mean, it kind of felt

(50:34):
like a disrespectful number six preseason ranking, and so it's like,
you know, you know you guys like you, I feel like,
being as close as I am with Aria, I was
like second hand disrespected. I'm like, oh, I'm in there.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
What And so, like a lot of people said, it's
a rebuilding year, but like you said, Don's gonna whip
ya onto shape. And it's all of those people who
are playing behind in that amazing class. But at the
same time, it's like they weren't playing behind because they
didn't have the skill. It was just because it's the
seniors that were all over.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
So much talent exactly.

Speaker 2 (51:08):
So talk to me a little bit about kind of
that message that Don had to you guys coming off
the summer that it sounds like you guys had what
was that message that kind of propelled you guys into
starting off with four hundred point games, blowing out Notre
Dame in Parish, just starting off so hot, and it's
continued throughout the rest of the year.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Yeah, honestly, we didn't even think it was going to
be ranked that high as a new team. That's why
you hear it as disrespect. I was like, I'm surprised
we didn't rank lower, like oh, like double digit, like
double digit ranking. Okay, Yeah, so hearing like we were
number six, we were a bit shocked because of how
you know, as I said, in the summer, and just

(51:48):
how everyone is saying how it was going to be
a rebuilding year. So I didn't take it as disrespect.
I took it as like, wow, what are they talking about?
Like I expected us to be in a double digit
ranking for sure, But it's just the growth, you know,
as you talked about, and just how everything has come
into place, and how don has whipped our team into shape,

(52:11):
and knowing that the teams that she's had in the past,
I'm sure they didn't start out as we did as well.
Knowing that, Yeah, but yeah, it was just different. It's
a different vibe now. But in the summer you can
talk to every one of us and saying that we

(52:32):
did not think it was gonna be like.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
This, Well you know what, we're here now, you're here
now and you're killing it. But coming in to the team,
like you said, it was kind of like a lot
of new pieces being at it.

Speaker 1 (52:44):
So you feel like it was the same.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
So what role did you have a certain role that
you were like, Okay, I'm going to feel this, I'm
going to be this for the team or were you
just kind of coming in like I want to make
an impact in any way? I can't what were the
vibes because also your senior year, So what were the
vibes coming in and how did you want to kind
of assert yourself into the team.

Speaker 1 (53:04):
One thing you and everyone else knew what I was
going to be for this team. A shooter. I I
they listed me as a shooter. So I was like, Okay,
I'm gonna come in and shoot. Okay's no big deal,
and that's what I do. Yeah, okay, But I just
wanted to come in and make an impact, immediate impact,
a leadership impact, and I knew that they was going

(53:25):
to need my you know, being a veteran and being
on a college stage for the past four years, I
knew they was going to need that type of leadership
coming in and seniority, and so I just wanted to
be a leader and knowing that I could be a
voice that they can turn to, and knowing that they
can turn to me, and knowing that I've been in
it for quite a while, I kind of know what

(53:46):
I'm talking about. But at the same time I could
also learn from young players and knowing that I can
be this leader that they can turn to, and know
that that I could lead and be the player that
I know I could be and be that missing piece
that they needed that they've been needed. So it was
kind of a refreshing start.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Yeah, And I think that's that makes the best type
of leader is somebody who is so experienced, is so wise,
but at the same time you're humble enough to still
learn from the younger players because you can always learn.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
And so talk to me a.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
Little bit about being that veteran voice and like building
the chemistry because it's a lot of new players and
a lot of new players that are in new Roles.
So talk to me about coming from that summer that
we've heard about. How long did it take to build
that chemistry to where you guys are out now.

Speaker 1 (54:32):
It definitely took the second part of the summer, Okay,
you know, the first part was just to get to
know everyone, know who they are, and know what type
of person they are on and off the court. But
we do have this thing that we did in the
summer called Final four Fridays with our shamth conditioning coach,
Mally Mally Benetti. So four Fridays is where as a

(54:54):
team we are tested or as challenged and like we
do like different things as a team, and then we
have to to accomplish a goal as a team because
as a team, you you are looking forward to the
Final four. So in order to the Final four, you
gotta be a team. You gotta push each other, you
gotta compete with each other, you gotta challenge each other.
So on those Fridays, everyone was looking towards Final four Fridays,

(55:16):
but at the same time it was death. Oh yeah.
So like one Friday, like we'd like go to a
hill and we'd like race each other and compete and
like their medicine balls up the up the hill, or
you like do do plate pushes up the hill, and
so you just had to like compete. Yes, girl, yes, yes,

(55:37):
Oh my gosh. It was so bad. It was it
was really bad. That was like my first Final four Friday.
It was terrible mm hmm, but fun at the same time.
So it was just really those type of days that
we looked towards as a team because we had to
be a team. You had to push each other, you
had to compete with each other because in order to
get to the Final four, as you know, you had

(55:59):
to be a team and you have to have each
other's back and you have to trust each other and
knowing that you're going to do your part and everyone
else is going to do their part. So those were
team bonding moments as well, and then we did those
every Friday. The last one we did was a riverwalk
and so we just like, I think it was like
a couple miles or something like that, and then at
the end we had like a water boom fight to

(56:19):
end it. So that was really fun. And so what
Bonded does really well was just off court and stuff
and just bonding, like having each other's presence with each
other and you know how it is, you know, late nights. Yeah,
I can't speak too much into it, but them late
night bonding moments and just having fun with each other

(56:40):
and knowing that you know, you generally love to be
around each other and not like fake energy and just
everything was just real, genuine love.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
Yeah, that's special. I think you can tell, like when
you watch you guys being in close games, games like
a South Carolina, that off court chemistry is what allows
you to stay in tune with one another.

Speaker 1 (56:57):
There's never like I feel like a lot.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Of teams can be so great, but when it gets
to chronchime, things get hard. If they don't have that chemistry,
that's when things break down. That's when people bicker, That's
when that's what sets apart a Final four team. And
so we talked about this before. The deepness very annoying
to other teams. Great for you, but so people are like,
you know, you talked about Camilla, you got Ashland, Raven,

(57:21):
Chloe Sonight, like the list just goes on and on
and on. Talk to me about beyond the talent. It's
what makes you guys so great. In my opinion, is
that everybody buys into their role, right, it's gonna be
somebody's night every night.

Speaker 1 (57:35):
And you guys are always so hyped up.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
Like even when you're on the sideline and somebody's going crazy,
I see you getting lit.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
So talk to me.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
About just like the chemistry of being on a team
like that, with all these different superstars who are able
to buy into their role for the greater good.

Speaker 1 (57:49):
How fun is it to be in a locker room
like that? Man, It's so fun. I mean, as you
can tell on the court, we just generally love each other.
And I think, yeah, that's what also separates from other
teams is how genuinely close we are with each other
and how much we actually love each other, and how
everyone's just bought in too winning. I think a lot
of people get into the individual stats and scoring this,

(58:13):
and you know, how many assists did I get this game,
or how many rebounds and how many points did I score?
But I think what separates us as well is just
how everyone just wants to win, no matter how we
get there. Everyone just wants to win. And that's how
they keep the main thing the main thing, and that's
to win. You know, everyone's just going to buy into
their role if they want to win, and if you don't,
then that's just saying that you're a selfish player and

(58:35):
that you know you don't want to be on that
type of team because you're just looking within yourself instead
of as a team. And so everyone just wants to win,
and it's just an effective energy that everyone wants to
buy off on. And so that's the main goal is
to win. Yeah, no one's going to remember how many
points scored against this team or like that. Just everyone

(58:56):
Everyone's going to remember the undefeated team or like the
team that like went all the way because of how
they they were dominating teams. Like everyone's gonna remember that,
but they're not to remember individual stats or like stuff
like that. So it's just crazy to think how people
just think about individual stats and like they just want
to score this many points when at the end of

(59:17):
the game, it matters if you win or lose.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
Yeah, Like if I have like fifty points and I lose,
I don't care I lost. Like I want to win.
That's that's the main thing. And I think you said
that so beautifully. Turning it back to you individually, talk
to me about where you feel you've had the most
growth in your game. Moving to South Carolina, I've heard
you talk about defense improving. Tell me about what is

(59:43):
like that thing where you're like, yeah, like I can
really see a growth area in myself in this.

Speaker 1 (59:49):
I just said defense. I think everyone knows, yeah, you
know on the pack, you know, you don't really you know,
need a movie of the puppies really well, So I
say defense and just picking good shots. I think that's
what has grown my game a lot, picking and choosing

(01:00:11):
good and bad shots. And I think that's what has
grown a lot in my game. I know a lot
of times I could be shooting bad shots, but then
at the end of the day, it's actually a good shot. Yeah,
And so I think that's what I've seen a lot
growth in my game playing here at South Carolina is
choosing my spots and choosing what is good shots for
me and putting people in a position where they could

(01:00:34):
score easily. And then another one is patience. Definitely patients
on the court. I'm still learning how a lot of
these young kids don't have the IQ as much as
I do, and so I have to be directive. I
have to use my voice and direct them to roll.
I gotta tell them roll, you gotta roll, you gotta roll,

(01:00:56):
or you got to be like go to a corner,
go to a corner, spacing, spacing, You're like, hey, two man, game,
do this, do that. So I've been seeing a lot
of that grow in my game. So I'm gonna have
to say those things, well, those are all great things.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
Those are all great things, And just my opportunity to
give you some flowers right now. I feel like we
first met at USA Trials and I remember just clicking
and like we are very different people today, but back
then just a bunch of high energy weirdos.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
Like seeing you now and the growth and just like
being a fan of yours genuinely, not only on the court,
but just as a person, and like you're the best
what best three point percent of the NCAA right now,
Seeing you, know you overcoming and battling injuries and every
single time coming back stronger than you were before.

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
I think it's so special. And like hearing that you're
a vet on a team now running the show is
so old. Like you're over here bossing around kids. That's crazy.
Oh my god, I know. I never I would have
seen myself doing that. Here here you are here. You
are a grown woman, proud, proud.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
But before we get into our last section, the vibe check,
which is gonna be rapid fire, one of my favorite
things to do is ask people like outrageous hypotheticals or
would you rather? So you're gonna be the guinea pig,
so you're welcome in advances. So my question of the
day for you, Tahina is this is gonna be so random.

(01:02:27):
What is the largest animal that you think you could
be in a fistfight? Okay, and here's the parameters. It's
got get like, you know, give yourself some props here,
But it is a fist fight. There's no weapons, and
you're in that animal's terrain. So I'll give you some
time to think. For me, I think I could take
a giraffe. And I tell you I've been I've been

(01:02:50):
shruck down. People tell me, no, I'm going for the knees.
I'm knocking it down and I'm taking it out. I
got I'm beating a giraffe.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
So what was literally my first animal that I thought
of though? Oh my god, Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying.
You can do it. You can do it exactly. I
think I had to do the draft. That's actually that's
literally the first animal that came to mind, like the
largest animal something like wind. Yeah, where have you been?

(01:03:23):
That's literally like the first animal that came Like, you
can't beat a hippo. I've seen TikTok videos of them,
have you? Oh my god? You know they sink to
the bottom of the water that they're running. They're running
at the bottom of the river and they're actually fast
on lane. Yeah I'm scared of yeah. No, yeah, same
like all these TikTok videos. Oh my gosh, TikTok is

(01:03:43):
my Google. That's how I educate myself these days. Absolutely
absolutely yeah, I need the visual how to keep up
with the new age. Yeah absolutely, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
Okay, I'm glad we agree. But now we'll get into
our five check. I'm gonna ask you some rapid fire questions.
Some guests have not understood the rapid fire part. So
I that you're you're gonna do great. You're gonna do great.

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
I believe.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
Starting off, we're gonna do what's the drill that you
never want to see on the practice plan?

Speaker 1 (01:04:12):
We knowing? Oh my gosh, I hate we know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:14):
Al told us about this last year.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
It sounds horrible.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
It's Waynea wing sucks because we did it during the
USA training camp. We were all like, Sean, what do
we what are we doing?

Speaker 1 (01:04:26):
Like gosh, girl, especially in the summer. Oh my gosh,
that was the worst show ever because we were all
out of shape and they kept making us do it
because we weren't finishing it. But now we do it
before game days. But yeah, we knowing guns it out. Okay,
we're good.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
Okay, next one game winning shot or game winning steel.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
Game winning shot, absolutely okay.

Speaker 2 (01:04:44):
Group TikTok or solo TikTok, group.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
TikTok so so because yeah, yeah, I can't be teaching
them and waiting for them to learn TikTok.

Speaker 2 (01:04:57):
Exactly like pick it up. It's I get so frustrated.

Speaker 1 (01:05:01):
Pick it up. Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Where's the hardest place to play on the road?

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
L s U? Absolutely, I was gonna say we talked
about earlier. L Su.

Speaker 2 (01:05:10):
Okay, who's the biggest trash talker? It could be on
your team or somebody else that you played against.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
Oh my gosh, Ashlan really yes, okay, it's crazy, especially oh.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
I'll look out for you know, none of that, None
of that, Okay, next question, biggest flopper, same same principle.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
It could be on your team or somebody else.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
Is she I'm sorry, it's okay, it's okay, everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:05:42):
You need to tell it every now and then it's okay,
it's okay.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
And you know what, she's probably a great actress. She'll
still get the call. She deserves it. What's your biggest basketball.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Oh? When practice players do abnormal things like go, you're
going too fast? Like, oh yeah, just players get kissing
me off, like it's absolutely, like when they don't do
their job, like why are you going fast when we're
just going like fifty percent?

Speaker 2 (01:06:14):
Like especially during scout, what are we doing?

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
Oh my god? Absolutely, I'm like, bro. And then the
coaches get mad at you, and it's like, bro, well
he's going like one hundred while I'm going like thirty percent,
Like broea, give me a break. Come come on now.
That's another one and then another one's charges? How many
charges in our game? You take out the restricted circle?

(01:06:38):
What is a restricted circle there? For? If you're like, ye,
take out the charges, come on, get in the weight room.
Like that's a hot take. That's a hot take. I
like it.

Speaker 2 (01:06:46):
Kiss me personally, I'm gonna just take the fount I'm
trying to block you.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
I'm not taking no charge. What that's great? Absolutely, like
take out the charges, bro, Like come on now, yeah, yeah,
the game. I agree, come on with you. You take
out the restricted circle. We don't need none of that.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
Okay, this is this is one of my favorite questions
is who is your celebrity lookalike? If you feel like
you have one, or you've been told you look like.

Speaker 1 (01:07:08):
Somebody, well, I don't look like nobody of God, one
of a kind. Great answer. This might be like Mamana
like I know right, Like.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
Geez, you're that's that's I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
Someone who would you pick as your teammate in like
a two on two game? And it can't be one
of your current South Carolina teammates?

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
Oh okay?

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
Maybe anybody ever? Any women Hooper ever?

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
Like ever? Yeah? Time of My first thought was Cambrink.

Speaker 2 (01:07:49):
Oh okay, boom pick I like it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:53):
I like it. That's a good one. Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:07:56):
What is your favorite pregame hype song?

Speaker 1 (01:08:00):
My song? Yeah, oh doing so good? You've been doing
so good. I gotta go. Oh yeah, that's a good
ordinary love calm gets the heart rate down.

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
That's my type of stuff. That's my type of stuff
right there.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
I like it. Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:08:18):
Then our last question is what's your best impersonation of don.

Speaker 1 (01:08:23):
Oh gosh, I gotta get this paper here. Oh see,
she all performed rolled up paper. I got this. Oh
she goes like like she would just use this paper

(01:08:44):
like everything. She loves the proph. She loves the prop
I think another one was Fagan. She's gonna hate me
for this, but oh, let's hear it. She's always like,
my god, what are you doing? What kind of shot
is that? Oh it's just like Vegan's gonna hate me

(01:09:05):
for that. But it's okay. We all we always laugh
about that one. But it's just I feel like every
coach has a name that they just love to they
love to yell. I feel bad that's Vegan, but every
coach has one. Oh that's good.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
Okay, Well, Tahina, thank you so much for coming on.

Speaker 1 (01:09:23):
This has been such a blast. Yeah, I know, it's
been so much fun. Thank you for giving me this.
I'll return to talk to you and just talk about everything.
And you're killing it.

Speaker 2 (01:09:33):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (01:09:35):
Uh. Yeah, you deserve the flowers that you give as well,
so you should get some flowers back girl, the water works.
Stop it, girl, I don't do that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:46):
Thank you so much, to you, Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
To everybody for listening.

Speaker 2 (01:09:50):
We will be back next week with another episode of
Sometimes I Hope the Players Tribute dot com