ATLANTA — She may not have been on it then. But she sure is now.
On Wednesday, Hannah Hidalgo was one of four women’s basketball players to be added to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Wade Watch List. Hidalgo and USC’s JuJu Watkins are the sole freshmen to ink their name next to 16 preseason candidates still vying for the nation’s oldest national player of the year award in women’s college basketball.
By now, college basketball fans are familiar with the scrappy point guard’s electrifying game. She leads the ACC with 24.4 points per game, and she ranks fourth nationally in that category. Hidalgo is coming off of a 34-point career performance at UConn, during which she broke the Notre Dame single-game freshman scoring record.
Hidalgo is also making national headlines on the opposite end of the court, leading the nation with 5.1 steals per game. She has already broken the Notre Dame freshman record for total steals, and she is now eyeing the program’s single-season record of 114.
The Haddonfield, N.J., native can now add this honor to her lengthy resume. Hidalgo is already a nine-time ACC Rookie of the Week, two-time ACC Player of the Week and three-time USBWA National Freshman of the Week. She has also been named the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Week and the AP National Player of the Week one time each. Finally, Hidalgo is on the Nancy Lieberman Top 10 (nation’s best point guard) and the Wooden Late Season Top 20.