Paccione was born in the South Bronx in New York City to a single mother; she is biracial, with an English-Irish birth father and African-American mother. When she was ten years old, Paccione took the name of her step father, Paccione. After her family moved outside of the city, Paccione attended Cornwall Central High School in Orange County, where she played high school basketball, volleyball, and soccer. Excelling particularly in basketball, Paccione was a member of the 1977 USA Women's Select National Team, "Parade Magazine"'s First All-American Team and numerous other high school All-American Teams. During her sophomore year in high school, she also participated in tryouts for the United States' first Olympic women's basketball team in 1976, making it to the penultimate cut in the eastern division, but was not selected for the team.