One prospect they cover is Kentucky point guard Georgia Amoore, who the trio ranked as the 15th-best prospect for 2025 in the preseason. At the time, the trio noted her excellent midrange shooting but expressed concerns about her pull-up 3-pointer, and those observations have held up this season. Amoore is shooting just 29.6% from 3-point range, though she’s still averaging 16.3 points and 7.0 assists per game.
Here’s Shafer on how he evaluates her prospects:
“The 3-point shot just isn’t really falling right now, which is a problem for her prospects as a WNBA player, as a 5’5 lead guard. … I’ve actually really liked a lot of the stuff that she’s done inside the arc. She’s been super fun on the 8- to 15-foot range, working off the horns actions that [head coach] Kenny [Brooks] likes to run.”
The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom
The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
Later in the episode, the trio discusses several South Carolina players, including guard Te-Hina Paopao, forward Sania Feagin and guard Bree Hall. Paopao is averaging 11.3 points, 2.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game, and she’s making 53.8% of her 2-pointers and 42.9% of her 3-pointers. Her assists and 3-point shooting are down somewhat from last season, but her 2-point percentage is up.
Adler assesses what that means for Paopao’s WNBA future after the trio ranked her as the sixth-best prospect in the preseason:
“If she falls out of the top five, that is a problem on behalf of the [general managers] who are drafting in the top five. … I don’t see any universe in which she’s worse than [an average starter long-term] in the W.
“If you’re looking at [Notre Dame guard] Sonia Citron and you’re seeing a player who you’re like, ‘Hey, that’s a plug-and-play at the three in the W,’ Te-Hina Paopao is just like that but better. [She’s] not necessarily the same player, but it’s almost the exact same concept, but just with much better confidence intervals.”
Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?
Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.
Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.
Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine
Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.
