Basketball stars Hannah Hidalgo and Kylee Watson

Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo has been touted as one of the prospects to become the face of college basketball after the departures of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to the WNBA.

Hidalgo has been having fun off the court, and recently, her Fighting Irish teammate Kylee Watson reposted a video on Instagram stories of Hidalgo and the rest of the team showing off their funky dance moves throughout the season.

Watson captioned the clip:

“This is cute.”

Hannah Hidalgo stakes claim as face of college basketball

Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo took the ACC by storm, averaging 35.9 minutes through the season for an injury-hit team that, last season, had six players in rotation at one point.

She won the ACC tournament MVP and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, averaging 22.6 points on 44.6% shooting from the floor and 34% shooting from beyond the arc, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

On3’s sports analyst Talia Goodman namechecked Hidalgo as one of the stars of the future, during an interview with Andy Staples.

“If you go to the younger players on the come-up, obviously there’s Hannah Hidalgo for Notre Dame, who’s incredible,” Goodman said. “I mean, led the country in steals last year and is just such a fun player to watch.”

Hidalgo didn’t want to be a basketball player as a youngster due to the biases and the media narrative that women’s basketball was not worth watching, but she grew up in a basketball family, necessitating her U-turn.

Now, she’s at the forefront of the revolution sweeping through women’s college basketball, making it the most-watched version of college basketball.

In an interview with ESPN, Hidalgo sounded surprised at being so recognizable to fans and said that she’s not used to the fame, let alone being the face of women’s college basketball.

“I never thought I would be the face of something,” Hidalgo said. “It’s still like, ‘Wow, people are trying to look up to me.’

“When I was in Spain, and people are chanting my last name, it’s just like, people know me from all over and it’s humbling. I continue to be humbled because I know in an instant everything could be taken away from me.”

Hannah Hidalgo will be part of a crop of talented prospects, including Audi Crooks of the Iowa State Cyclones and JuJu Watkins of the USC Trojans to carry the torch of women’s college basketball for the next few years.

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