Raven Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao won two national championships together at South Carolina under Dawn Staley.
Now they are on opposite sides of the court, with Johnson playing for the Indiana Fever and Paopao coming off the Atlanta Dream bench, and their former head coach could not resist hyping it up.
Dawn Staley Reacts to Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao Clash in the WNBA
The two teams met for the third time this season Saturday at State Farm Arena, with the series tied at one win apiece after Indiana took the opener 83-71 on June 4 and Atlanta answered with a 108-101 win on June 18. Staley, watching two of her former champions collide for a third time in 16 days, posted her reaction directly to the matchup.
“When championship teammates become opponents = must be Gamecocks! I love it here!!” Dawn Staley posted on X.
When championship teammates become opponents = must be @GamecockWBB! I love it here!! @HollywoodRaven @tehinapaopaoo 🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/N07okjpub3
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) June 20, 2026
The tweet shows Staley taking pride in watching her old roster spread across the league and compete at the highest level against each other, a recurring theme as more of her championship cores from 2022 and 2024 reach the WNBA.
The Dream took a 113-96 win, thanks to a collective effort from Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray. Angel Reese also contributed with 18 points. Paopao was on the floor for 16 minutes, put up nine points, and made three of her five shots.
Johnson, on the other hand, played 21 minutes and also managed to put up a similar impact, scoring nine points. She made four out of her six attempts and even hit a three-pointer.
Johnson, the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, is averaging 4.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while working her way into Indiana’s rotation behind Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell.
Paopao, who joined the Dream as a 2025 second-round pick, is averaging 4.9 points this season while shooting 36.9 percent from the field and a strong 40.0 percent from three, giving Atlanta a reliable floor-spacing option off the bench behind Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, and Jordin Canada.
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Neither player is the headline act on her respective roster yet, but both have carved out decent roles, and Saturday’s third meeting in this Fever-Dream series gave fans a direct look at the matchup Staley was celebrating.
It is the kind of moment college coaches rarely get to see play out at the professional level, two of her former champions guarding each other with real stakes on the line.
Indiana and Atlanta still have a fourth meeting left on the schedule before the regular season wraps, meaning Johnson and Paopao will get at least one more shot to settle the series between their two teams. Staley, for her part, made it clear she will be watching every time it happens.