Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo named Preseason AP All-American
Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo was named one of six Preseason Associated Press All-Americans on Tuesday. The other four are all on the Fighting Irish’s schedule in 2024-25.
Hidalgo, a 2023-24 First Team AP All-American as a true freshman to become one of just five season-long freshmen AP All-Americans in the sport’s history, is joined on this year’s preseason list by USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins, UConn senior guard Paige Bueckers, Texas sophomore forward Madison Booker and USC graduate student forward Kiki Iriafen.
Notre Dame plays USC in Los Angeles on Nov. 23. The Irish host Texas on Dec. 5 and UConn on Dec. 12.
Watkins, like Hidalgo, is one of the five freshmen who has ever been named a First Team AP All-American. She’s the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, just like Hidalgo is the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.
Booker, meanwhile, is the SEC Preseason Player of the Year. The Big East had not released its preseason accolades as of Oct. 22, but Bueckers was named the 2023-24 Preseason Player of the Year in that conference. She went on to win the award as predicted after missing the entire 2022-23 season because of an ACL injury.
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Hidalgo and Bueckers went head-to-head last season in Storrs, Conn. Notre Dame’s superstar stole the show, dropping 34 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in an 82-67 Fighting Irish victory. Bueckers had 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting with 4 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
For her career, Bueckers is averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.1 steals in 85 appearances and 80 starts. She’s a career 53.0-percent shooter from the field.
Hidalgo had a dazzling first season at Notre Dame with 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game as a starter in all 35 of the Irish’s tipoffs. She shot 44.6 percent from the field.
Booker turned into a do-it-all point forward for Texas as a starter in all 37 of the Longhorns’ games after point guard Rori Harmon went down with an injury. Booker put up 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game on 45.7 percent shooting.
Watkins, though, seems to be the biggest threat to Hidalgo as the game’s biggest star moving forward. She averaged 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game for the Trojans as a freshman. She adds Iriafen, a Stanford transfer, to her team. Iriafen posted 19.4 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in her final season with the Cardinal.
