South Carolina women’s basketball stars earn WNBA Draft invitations

The WNBA Draft is coming up on Monday, April 14th in New York. Multiple South Carolina women’s basketball stars hope to hear their names called during the festivities. On Friday, the WNBA invited 16 players to the draft, including two Gamecocks. NC State was the only other program with two player representatives.

The W sent out invites to redshirt senior guard Te-Hina Paopao and senior post player Sania Feagin. While she did not receive an invitation to the for-television event, senior wing Bree Hall could be drafted, as well. Former Gamecock Saniyah Rivers–who finished her career at NC State–also earned a draft night invitation. Feagin has already arriving in New York for the event. Paopao previously said she would watch the draft from home.

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Paopao, who has been in and around the first round in most WNBA Draft mocks for months, spent two years in garnet and black after transferring in from the Oregon Ducks. The 5-9 perimeter player has played both point guard and shooting guard in her career. She led the nation in 3-point shooting percentage during the 2023-2024 campaign. Her numbers dipped a bit this season, but she showcased the ability to score in other ways and played better defense. Paopao averaged 10.2 points, 3.3 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in her two years as a Gamecock.

Feagin, a former 5-star prospect in the class of 2021, waited her turn behind some of the best bigs in program history. When she finally earned a starting spot as a senior, she took advantage. Feagin averaged 8.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.3 assists this year. She also shot 60.1% from the field, 79.7% from the foul line, and improved her jumper. Despite playing out of position most of the year at center, the 6-3 power forward became a great defensive player.

Both Paopao and Feagin have been included in the majority of WNBA mock drafts’ first two rounds and have pushed as high as the back half of the first round.

Fans can tune in to watch the draft at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night. ESPN will broadcast the event, while the ESPN app makes it available via streaming.