Hannah Hidalgo, the No. 5 high school player in the country when she arrived at Notre Dame in 2023, immediately stepped on the court for the first time and became one of the best college players in the country.
The individual talent that Hidalgo possesses and then displays on the court is unquestionable. She was an All-American after both her freshman and sophomore seasons, and it all but guaranteed another All-American honor at the end of this season thanks to her being one of the top five scorers
in the country and the best thief in the land.
At a place like Notre Dame, however, it takes more than a ton of points and a ton of steals on the stat sheet to become a legend. Hidalgo is a game changer, but what kind of legacy will she leave behind when her time at Notre Dame is over?
Notre Dame is a program that became one of the best in the country by tallying up conference championships, deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, and national championships. During Hidalgo’s first two seasons at Notre Dame, the Irish only made it as far as the Sweet Sixteen before being beat by Oregon State in 2024 and TCU in 2025. Both of those runs game with the Irish being a 2 and 3 seed, respectively. This season… Notre Dame is unranked and in the middle of the pack in the ACC.
This isn’t one of those great Notre Dame teams that were feared in the month of March in years past. While the Irish have shown flashes of brilliance this season, they have also been dominated at times by the better teams on their schedule.
While Hidalgo can break scoring records and steals records and all of that — she needs more to be on the same level as a Ruth Riley or a Arike Ogunbowale. Saying she needs to win a national championship at Notre Dame to be considered as one of the all-time greats is hyperbole for sure, but she does need more than a Sweet Sixteen berth at some point.
Hidalgo is just a junior, and WNBA rules won’t allow her to enter the draft until 2027, so she does have one more season available to her at Notre Dame. Still… if she can somehow manage to help guide her squad to some big wins THIS March in both the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, everything is on the table. Hidalgo has the talent and the drive to take over a game, but she will have to do it consistently in every game to give her that shot.
