Te-Hina Paopao named to Wooden Award watch list

Oregon guard Te-Hina Paopao is introduced before an NCAA college basketball game against UCLA in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 women’s tournament Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Paopao Named to Wooden Award Watch List

LOS ANGELES — Oregon guard Te-Hina Paopao is among 50 players chosen to the preseason watch list for the prestigious John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s, given to the nation’s most outstanding player, in a vote of national college basketball experts.

Paopao, who was also selected to the Nancy Lieberman Award and the Naismith Trophy preseason watch lists, is one of six players from the Pac-12 selected to the preseason list. It marks the first time Paopao has been named to the Wooden Award watch list.

An all-Pac-12 selection in each of her first two seasons, Paopao has averaged 12.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 40.9 percent from the floor and 34.0 percent from three-point range through 45 career games.

In three starts to begin the 2022-23 season, Paopao is averaging 11.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists a contest in leading the Ducks to a 3-0 start.

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 players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2023 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s. Players not chosen to the preseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award™ midseason list, late season list and the National Ballot. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All-America Team will be announced the week of the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2023 John R. Wooden Award will be presented in Los Angeles in April.

Former Oregon superstar Sabrina Ionescu was a two-time winner of the Wooden Award, going back-to-back after the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and is the only Duck to earn the player-of-the-year honor.