The Southern Steel assistant coach admitted she knew little about the 18-year-old shooter before the Steel assembled for the pre-season.
While Wilkins was quick to recognise her potential, the rest of us had to wait until she calmly slotted the match-winning goal in the 47-46 win over the Melbourne Vixens last weekend.
"We were told she was a player with a future and she has definitely shown that this year," Wilkins said.
"She was playing against an Australian defender [Julie Prendergast] and there were a lot of comments that she would not be able to handle it.
She sure made them [regret] their comments."
Naoupu only got the opportunity to start last week when former Australian shooter Megan Dehn was ruled out the day before the match with an ankle injury.
Former Silver Fern shooter-turned-television presenter Tania Dalton was called into the Steel squad as cover but watched from the bench as Naoupu landed 26 of her 32 attempts.
With Dehn's ankle still not right, Naoupu is likely to start when the Steel plays the West Coast Fever at the Lion Foundation Arena in Dunedin tonight.
Dalton has remained with the squad and trained with the Steel yesterday.
The 36-year-old is a former team-mate of Wilkins and the pair formed a formidable attacking duo for the Sting.
Since Dalton's re-emergence, the "bring back Donna" campaign has gathered momentum.
The 30-year-old has been fending off questions about a potential return to the court all year.
"Everyone has been wondering `why aren't you putting your shoes on?' But I'm committed to this role and I'm not about to change my mind.
"I decided, at the beginning of the season, I wanted to step into this role as assistant coach and pass on my experience."
The Steel's win over the Vixens last week was a confidence booster but the team's play-off prospects remain on death row.
A loss would probably end its play-off hopes.
With that threat hanging over the team, there is no room for complacency.
The Fever is out of contention but will be hurting after being robbed of a competition point in its last match.
It was up 33-16 at home against the Central Pulse when the game was abandoned at half-time.
Heavy rain and a leaky roof combined to leave the surface too slippery to continue and umpires ruled the game was a draw, awarding the teams one point each.
Wilkins had sympathy for the Perth-based side, who she thought should have been declared the winner.
And despite the Fever's lowly place on the competition table, Wilkins believes it is a tricky opponent.
The visiting side bases much of its attack around 1.92m-tall shooter Caitlin Bassett and has a quality defender in Susan Fuhrmann.
But it is a taxing trip from Perth to Dunedin.
The Fever flew to Sydney on Saturday to break the trip up and then continued through to Dunedin yesterday via Christchurch.
