Paopao Named To Naismith Trophy Watch List

ATLANTA — Oregon guard Te-Hina Paopao is one of 50 players named to the initial Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's Watch list, awarded each year to the nation's top collegiate player, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday.
 
Paopao, who was also selected to the Nancy Lieberman Award preseason watch list for the second year in a row, is one of nine players from the Pac-12 added to the preseason list. It marks the first time Paopao has been named to the preseason player-of-the-year award's watch list.
 
An all-Pac-12 selection in each of her first two seasons, Paopao has averaged 12.0 points and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 33.7 percent from three-point range through 42 career games.
 
Paopao finished her sophomore year in 2021-22 averaging 13.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, scoring in double figures 16 times in 23 contests. She dropped a career-high 24 points in a 68-66 overtime win over No. 7 Arizona on Jan. 15, 2022.
 
The midseason 30-member team will be announced in early January, and then the competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semifinalists in early March. Following those results, four finalists will be named on March 21, 2023, and the winner of the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy for Women's Player of the Year will be announced on March 29, 2023.
 
Former Oregon superstar Sabrina Ionescu earned the Naismith Trophy in 2020, becoming the first Duck to receive the player-of-the-year honor.