Notre Dame women’s basketball lands commitment from five-star PG Hannah Hidalgo

One, two, three. Notre Dame women’s basketball secured a commitment from a third five-star recruiting prospect Tuesday, one day before the closure of the early signing period. This time, it was point guard Hannah Hidalgo’s turn to make herself Irish. She did so via an Instagram live announcement on SportsCenterNext, a verified property of ESPN.

Hidalgo, the No. 5 overall player in the class of 2023 according to ESPN HoopGurlz’s recruiting rankings, joins guard Emma Risch and forward/guard Cassandre Prosper as Notre Dame’s commits in the current class. Risch, the No. 20 overall player in the class, and Prosper, the No. 16 overall player in the class, were already made official as signees by the university.

Hidalgo’s official announcement took a matter of minutes.

“We are ecstatic to welcome five-star point guard Hannah Hidalgo to the ND family,” head coach Niele Ivey said in a statement. “Hannah brings swag, competitiveness, and a relentless drive that will instantly elevate our program. She is-multi dimensional, lightning fast and tenacious defensively with a scorer’s mentality and a high basketball IQ.  Hannah does a great job of pushing pace and making everyone around her better.”

She’s Irish! ☘️

Welcome home, @HannahHidalgo!#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/WHSPuccF4A

— Notre Dame WBB (@ndwbb) November 15, 2022

Hidalgo was the top uncommitted player in the class going into the last two days of the early signing window. The Haddonfield (N.J.) Paul VI product chose Notre Dame over Michigan, UCF, Stanford, Duke and Ohio State per her latest update prior to her announcement. She averaged 26.3 points, 6.2 steals, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as a junior.

Hidalgo had Stanford, Duke and Notre Dame hats laid out on a table in front of her. She put the Stanford and Duke hats on as fake-outs before shaking her head as if to suggest, “Nahhh, not these schools.” Then she did the same with the Notre Dame hat before pulling a second Irish hat out from beneath the table. She unzipped her jacket to reveal an Irish shirt under her jacket, too.

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Hidalgo is coached by her father, Orlando, at Paul VI. The two have their eyes set on a New Jersey state championship to cap her career.

“The team understands how competitive she is and that she’s not going to say something that she’s not going to do,” Orlando told Caroline Makauskas of Just Women’s Sports. “Her leadership and her competitiveness brings the best out of all the players. And that’s pretty special for me, as a dad and a coach, to see her lead the team. She’s taken to leadership very well, and we’re proud of her.”

Hidalgo becomes the clear heir to current Notre Dame sophomore Olivia Miles at point guard. Assuming Miles stays in South Bend through her senior year, the duo’s careers will overlap for two seasons. As long as she’s healthy, Miles has already earned the right to start at the point for however long she is with the program. That means Hidalgo will have two years as the understudy to who many believe is already the best point guard in the country.

When Miles is subbed out for Hidalgo, Ivey is going from one five-star to another.

There will be opportunities for Miles and Hidalgo to share the backcourt together, too. Graduate student guard Dara Mabrey is departing after the season. Ivey has a wealth of riches to turn to as replacements. The 6-1 Risch is one of the best shooters Ivey has ever seen, she said. Hidalgo is a true point but could play off the ball with her unlimited skill set. That leaves current sophomore Sonia Citron and current freshman KK Bransford, two four-star McDonalds All-Americans, as interchangeable parts at the three-guard spot. Ivey said Prosper translates as more of a guard, too.

A lion’d share of talent. Only so many places to put them on the floor. It’s a good problem for Ivey to have.