Twins Mia & Mya Pauldo find the "home" in homecoming to Rutgers
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The question caught both Mia and Mya Pauldo by surprise.
“Do you think you’re geniuses?”
They weren’t quite sure what that meant.
“Do you think you are geniuses?”
“Well, yes,” the two answered with confidence.
That satisfied the source of the original question, Rutgers University President William F. Tate IV.
They slowly realized, as they sat in a meeting with Tate, that coming back home would be the right place to continue their college basketball careers after a year at Tennessee.
They were one of the first big dominoes to fall in new head coach Gary Redus II‘s tenure, and arguably the most important one. The Pauldos grabbed headlines at nearly every opportunity in their star-studded careers at Morris Catholic, becoming top-60 recruits in the 2025 class.
Now, the “Twin Backcourt” is coming home to Rutgers Women’s Basketball.
“This is a business”
The 2025-26 women’s basketball season in Knoxville did not exactly go to plan.
The Volunteers opened the year as the No. 8 team in the preseason Top 25, with a loaded recruiting class — the twins chief among them — entering the fold in Kim Caldwell’s second year at the helm.
Fast-forward to March, and Tennessee ended the year with eight consecutive losses and a first-round NCAA Tournament exit to North Carolina State, tumbling out of the Top 25 by mid-February. Then came the exodus.
All eight players with eligibility opted to transfer. Then assistant coach Gabe Lazo, who recruited much of the 2025 class, left for an assistant coaching spot on LSU‘s staff, vacated by Redus and Daphne Mitchell‘s departure for Piscataway (Lazo ended up taking the UCF head coaching job days later). Roman Tubner — once considered a favorite to join longtime friend Redus’ new staff, multiple sources indicated to TKR — was then let go.
It was a season of lessons across the board.
“Just being strong because everything isn’t going to go my way,” said Mya, reflecting on what they learned from their freshman seasons. “I am young, and I’m learning that this is a business before it being, you know, the main thing we love, you know. So just seeking for a different perspective of how to view things so you can be the most successful. So , for example, if things aren’t going my way, I just have to stay grounded and continue to work until it’s my turn to shine.”
“Obviously, this year didn’t go the way we wanted it to go in terms of finding a home and wanting to stick to it for four years,” added Mia. “We understood the system going into it, but everything that was told to us didn’t really happen in terms of playing together and, you know, the culture and all that stuff.”
Mia saw the floor more than Mya as a part-time starter, ranking third on the Vols with 10.4 points per game in 27 games, 17 started. Mya averaged 10.1 minutes per game as a depth piece.
That bucked the trend of what the Pauldo’s were used to. In the high school and AAU ranks, Mya played the role of the primary point guard and leader on the floor. In college, Mia had to take on that very role.
“It really helped me a lot in terms of being able to be vocal when things aren’t going our way, even when things are going our way,” Mia added. “Just being able to get to my spots and getting other people involved, which I never had a problem with doing, but I was doing it more frequently than ever.”
Adding on to the adjustment was a concussion Mia suffered in February, as she was beginning to find her stride in SEC play.
In the end, the twins opted to enter the portal, seeking out a permanent home.
“That was our focus,” said Mya. “Where we are going now, we just want to be there for the rest of our years. We’re really not the type to transfer and go all over the place. We stayed at our high school four years. So we are definitely looking to stay at Rutgers, and we definitely are big on loyalty and family.”
Managing the process
Both Pauldo’s eventually entered the transfer portal with a “do-not-contact” tag, meaning their agent managed much of the portal process. Even then, the interest was not as much of a frenzy as one might expect with two top-60 recruits after their freshman year.
Much of that came from their desire to stick together.
“Mya and I want to play together, and Mya’s shown that she could play on this level,” Mia said. “But it wasn’t much she could have done, she didn’t play enough for most schools to really understand and see like, okay, it could really happen.”
One school in particular saw that vision, and extremely quickly. Rutgers — with Redus fully entrenched as the Scarlet Knights’ new head coach — reached out to the Pauldos’ representation very early in the process.
“He talked to our agent, hit him up ASAP, letting him know that this won’t work without the twins,” said Mia. “The New Jersey vibe just would not work out without having us there because of who we are, and the style of play we like, how we play, our swag, just the energy we bring. The main thing that stood out that he said to our agent — and us as well — that we were stars, and he’s gonna let us be stars.”
They quickly set up a visit, making their way back to the Garden State the weekend after the transfer portal officially opened on April 6th.
The return
The Pauldo’s had visited Rutgers multiple times in the past — as well as played at Jersey Mike’s Arena in high school — but it was clear this time around had a different feel.
“It just felt like a family atmosphere,” Mia said. “Everything that we want in a program.”
And, of course, all of the factors that make New Jersey unique from the rest of the 50 states came flooding back.
“It felt good to be home,” added Mya. “Breathing New Jersey air, we loved it, even though it was cold. And in Tennessee, obviously, the weather is beautiful, but that even just gave us more of a homecoming because we’re like, oh yeah, that’s how you know we’re back in New Jersey. But the vibes were great. The food was great. We loved the food. We missed it. It was just like a city kind of vibe, instead of like a country kind of vibe, and that’s what we’re used to. That Jersey city type of vibe.”
Even after less than a month on the job, the new-look coaching staff kept up the family and homecoming feelings.
A lot of that came from Redus himself. The first-year coach has not shied away from the social media trends, the Tik Tok dances with visitors, and everything that comes with living in the modern-day, social media-driven scope of college sports.
“His personality is very outgoing, and he has no filter,” Mya said with a laugh. “He’s goofy, and that kind of complements ours. It was just so easy to just vibe, and just be natural and authentic, and that’s what we love. We love authenticity.”
The authenticity spread throughout the coaching staff. All of the communication between the two parties on the visit was “real,” and the personalities mixed well. If someone was more outgoing — such as Redus — they were so in the initial meeting. If someone was more on the quiet and reserved side, they, too, showcased that during the visiting process.
But Redus’ ability to connect with the players helped push things in the right direction.
“He said, ‘How can you have the Twin Backcourt and not let them be Twin Backcourt?'” Mia chuckled. “‘How can you not have them on a team and not let them do their Twin Backcourt thing?'”
The overall message was clear.
“We’ve been waiting for you guys.”
And the good vibes proceeded up the entire chain of command.
The higher-ups
A distinct part of the visit was the opportunity to bond with both Tate and Athletic Director Keli Zinn. The two have long been supporters of high-level women’s basketball, after seeing what it can bring to the university in their time at LSU.
“I loved to see it,” Mya said, the smile on her face audible. “I don’t think we have gotten that type of welcoming or type of greeting before from people like them, a part of the university, and so we felt very special. Just like the words that they spoke, it meant a lot to us, because it showed us that they were paying attention and that they actually cared about us being there.”
Much of the discussions with Tate were less strictly basketball-centric, and more focused on seeking excellence anywhere they go. He talked academics, their career outlooks, and any way they could spend their time focused on exactly the next steps they want to take.
“We wanted to find something that fit us,” Mia said. “And he took the time to really sit down and ask us questions, and he said even when we come back on campus, when we go back home, we can visit him and he can help us figure out what we really want to do. Because he doesn’t want unnecessary time taken out of our hands. He wanted us to actually take classes that will help us pursue the career we want to pursue.”
The two described themselves as “hands-on people,” whether in the classroom or on the court.
“I can’t sit down in the lecture all day,” Mia added. “I need to really do things that I’m interested in, and can have my hands on.”
They were only able to briefly meet with Zinn, but the few minutes made a substantial impact. The emphasis on community and giving back to it stuck out the most to the twins, an aspect they are all about.
“We loved it,” said Mya. “For us to be hands-on — like Mia said, we’re hands-on type of people — for us to be hands-on in those activities, we loved it. It was just perfect.”
The twins announced their commitment to Rutgers on April 12th, releasing a video on social media titled “The Decision.”
They became the second and third of the Scarlet Knights’ seven-player transfer portal class — Mississippi State transfer Jaylah Lampley had committed just two hours earlier to kick off the incoming portal additions — and the homecoming was in motion.
Becoming trendsetters
With seven new transfer portal additions and an incoming freshman in Chikae Desdunes, Rutgers’ roster is all but set. And as some of the first newcomers, the twins have been able to watch the roster around them continue to build.
One of the big-time focuses of the offseason was adding to the frontcourt, even after Imani Lester and PreciousGem Wheeler — someone the two are familiar with from their AAU days — opted to return.
The Scarlet Knights added three post players through the portal, with Fatima Diakhate and Zennia Thomas serving as the veteran additions, while Mary Akinde enters as a developmental piece after her first year playing college basketball in the JUCO ranks.
“We got some size around the rim!” exclaimed Mya. “We love that because, as point guards, we love to feed our bigs and reward them with them working hard down there on the block. So, just working with the size that we have, we’re very satisfied.”
The current roster’s experience also jumps out. Eight of the 14 players are upperclassmen, with five more entering their sophomore campaigns, the Pauldos included. And many of the returning players popped in and out during the duo’s visit and photoshoots, already building the chemistry.
“That won’t be a problem at all,” said a grinning Mia.
But arguably just as important, if not more important, the twins’ return also signifies a reinvigorated commitment to the Garden State. Redus has talked the talk in heavily recruiting New Jersey, and now with the addition of the twin duo — along with Purdue transfer and former University (NJ) standout Tara Daye — he has begun to walk the walk, as well.
“You can’t say New Jersey is a place where a lot of good hoopers come from, and then the college that’s basically the name of New Jersey isn’t putting on as well,” said Mia.
They value their New Jersey roots and understand the importance of putting Rutgers back on the pedestal of the state, given the program’s history.
“We don’t take it lightly at all, especially because we’re New Jersey natives,” Mia added. “We know a lot that has been put into this program back then, especially with going to their games and stuff like that. So we don’t take it lightly, and trust me every game, we’re gonna play with a chip on our shoulder, for sure.”
That history has already begun to give back early on. The two shouted out former stars Arella Guirantes and Essence Carson (a fellow Paterson native) in particular, with Carson as a mentor to the duo, and Guirantes has already pledged to be in the gym over the summer.
The new-look Scarlet Knights have brought plenty of juice in the immediate short-term, but with help from the twins, locking down the home state will continue to be a priority. Redus’ ultimate goal is to bring in the best players, and let them play, and the commitment of Mia and Mya Pauldo lines right up with that philosophy.
“Hey, we’re trend-setters over here,” said Mya. “So we’re just used to starting things, and we’re excited to do it here at Rutgers, in New Jersey. It’s kind of like full circle in our eyes, because of how we’re building something. We’re building a legacy.”
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