Te-Hina Paopao Invited to USA Women’s U19 World Cup Team Trials

The 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup will be held August 7-15 in Hungary.

Oregon guard Te-Hina Paopao has accepted an invite to the 2021 USA Women’s U19 World Cup Team trials. She is one of 27 athletes who will compete in the trials from May 14-16 at Metro State University in Denver for a spot on the 12-member team.

The final roster will play for the FIBA U19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary, from August 7-15.

If selected, Paopao would be the first Oregon player to make the U19 team since Ruthy Hebard in 2017.

Paopao is not the only Duck to play with Team USA this offseason. Forward Sedona Prince was named a finalist for the 2021 USA Basketball Women’s AmeriCup Team in April.

Paopao, a native of Oceanside, California, had one of the top seasons for any freshman in the Pac-12. She averaged 10.2 points, a team-high 4.4 assists, and 3.2 rebounds en route to earning All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman honors.

The 2020 5-star recruit made an immediate impact for Head Coach Kelly Graves, starting the first 19 games of the season until suffering an injury late in the season that forced her to miss all of the Pac-12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Graves said in his season wrap-up presser that Paopao was “good to go” prior to the team’s offseason workouts.

Paopao is one of four Pac-12 student athletes that accepted an invitation, along with Ugonne Onyiah (Cal), Talia von Oelhoffen (Oregon State), and Lauren Ware (Arizona).

The U19 World Cup is held every two years and has been won by the United States seven times in the last eight competitions. In the 2019 World Cup, Team USA defeated Australia (which was led by former Duck Jaz Shelley) in the final.

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