Tennessee signees Mia and Mya Pauldo's father shares how watching NBA players Kyle Anderson and J.R. Smith motivated them towards basketball

The Pauldo twins, Mia and Mya Pauldo, are gradually carving out a basketball career for themselves, and they're doing it together every step of the way.

The sisters just wrapped up a remarkable high school basketball career at Morris Catholic. Now, they're gearing up for the next chapter with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers, where they will play college basketball next season.

Like many other young basketball prospects, Mia and Mya Pauldo's path to a career in basketball was sparked years ago by a bit of inspiration from watching NBA players. However, the girls had the privilege of watching these stars train in person.

Their father, DJ Pauldo, who played basketball before moving into coaching and training, had a full court built right behind their house, where he worked with athletes and also trained his own son.

What he didn't realize at the time was just how much Mia and Mya Pauldo were picking up from simply being around the game.

In a documentary video with Sportstar TV, DJ Pauldo revealed that watching the different athletes, including NBA stars like Kyle Anderson and J.R. Smith, train played a role in motivating the girls to pursue the game seriously.

"I was coaching my son, and we were all over the place … I'm training, you know, pros in here, you know, from Kyle Anderson, even JR Smith, a couple of guys have been back here and done a lot of things, and they (Mia and Mya) were just little, watching and kind of learning. …

"I'm still coaching boys, you know, elite basketball high school. And then, I'm like, turn around one day, and it's like, what? What is what? Okay, here we go, you know. So that's exactly how it happened."

According to Mia, she and her sister, Mya, were just having fun with the game at first, but over time, their dad started to realize they had some real skills:

"We were just having fun with it, and our dad realized that, you know, we had the skills to play basketball, and he decided to take it to the next level."

With all the time spent training on their home court and learning under their father's guidance, it was easy to quickly establish themselves as standout players once they got on the Morris Catholic team.

They led the Crusaders to three straight State Championship titles, capping it off with a perfect senior season where the team went undefeated with a 28-0 record.

"We just want to inspire other people": Mia and Mya Pauldo spoke about the impact their journey is having on others

In the same Sportstar TV documentary, Mia and Mya Pauldo opened up about the impact their journey is having on others, and how that, in turn, inspires them to keep going. The sisters spoke about the messages they receive and the sense of purpose they feel knowing that their success has an impact beyond the court.

"There are kids that come up to us, even like grown people, saying how inspirational we are and keep pushing, and how motivating it is to like, watch young females from like, urban communities be where we're at today," Mya said.

"It is motivating, and it just makes me happy. It makes my soul happy to think that we're doing something right. We just want to inspire other people to, like, go after what they want to do, or whatever they want to be, like they could be whatever they want. "

Mia and Mya Pauldo will join Tennessee alongside other Class of 2025 prospects, including Deniya Prawl, Jaida Civil and Lauren Hurst, who have all committed to the Volunteers.