“Every school has pros and cons”: Hannah Hidalgo explains how her parents helped with Notre Dame commitment

Hannah Hidalgo has established herself as one of the top players on the college basketball circuit in the past two seasons. The "March Madness" YouTube channel also dedicated a video on Hidalgo and her rise with the Fighting Irish on Thursday.

In the video, Hidalgo traces her decision to commit to Notre Dame and explains how her parents helped her make the choice.

"Me and my parents, we just sat down and we kind of wrote out the pros and cons of what I want in the school and what I don't want in the school," Higaldo said. (TS-2:13)

"And you know, every school comes with good and bad things but I think Notre Dame checked off most of the boxes of exactly what I want and whether that's family or a good player-coach relationship. You know somewhere that my parents could travel to and come to the game. So, it just checked off all the boxes that I wanted."

Hidalgo was recently named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025, an honor she won for the second time in a row. Notre Dame got the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament this season but lost to Duke in the semifinals.

Hannah Hidalgo among the finalists to win 2025 John R. Wooden Award

NCAA Womens Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament Semifinal - Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo - Source: Imagn

Last week, Hannah Hidalgo was listed as a finalist for the 2025 John R. Wooden Award. The Notre Dame star was joined by one of her teammates, Olivia Miles.

Here is the full list of finalists for the 2025 John R. Wooden Award:

• Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
• Lauren Betts, UCLA
• Madison Booker, Texas
• Paige Bueckers, UConn
• Audi Crooks, Iowa State
• Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
• Aziaha James, NC State
• Flau'jae Johnson, LSU
• Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State
• Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
• Aneesah Morrow, LSU
• Sedona Prince, TCU
• Sarah Strong, UConn
• Hailey Van Lith, TCU
• JuJu Watkins, USC

Hidalgo is averaging 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game this season. It will be interesting to see whether she can lead the Fighting Irish to a deep run in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, which could potentially give her the best chance of winning the John R. Wooden Award.