The ones that grow wild seem to grow under just about anything. It's the soil that matters most I assume. The ones on my family farm are in a swampy area where there is always moisture deep down even in a drought. The surrounding trees are predominately oaks of various types. I can't say that I've seen any maples nearby, and that may be because soil conditions that are favroable to pawpaws are also favorable to oaks. But I'm not really an expert. You could always give it a try.

Kathy,
Pawpaws will grow as understory plants in deep shade - and in most cases they are most prevalent along rivers/creeks or in deep 'hollows', but I also see them in the understory on upland hillsides on my farm.
While they will grow and fruit in the understory, like most other fruiting plants they are much more productive when grown in the open, in full sun. They may require some shade or protection from dessication for the first year or so, but after that they do very well with no shade.

I hear they like full sun farther north, as mentioned above, but in my zone 8 location they like a little shade at no matter what age. They are just not happy in full sun in July here. While I never see dark green leaves on pawpaws anywhere, they are most definitely a yellowish green in summer in my yard, seemingly no matter how well I fertilize them (N, Mg, Fe, S, all suspects). They are less yellowish in shaded locations. Of course if specific plants are yellow just between the leaf veins they will respond to fertilization (I sprayed Peters, plus chelated iron, plus some Epsom salt and really don't yet know which is helping).

I find it easy to grow pawpaws and get some fruit but hard to keep them looking fully happy. The partial shade helps. As does abundant mulch year after year. And I hand pollinate. This year for some reason was a good fruit-set year even before I got around to pollinating.