The legend of Hannah Hidalgo continues to grow after the senior guard appeared on College GameDay before No. 11 Notre Dame beat No. 1 Miami 31-24, on Saturday night.
It wasn’t a long appearance, but Hidalgo covered plenty of different topics in her short interview with ESPN reporter Jess Sims.
Hidalgo talked about the Fighting Irish fan base, playing Villanova in Italy and meeting the Pope, expectations for this year’s women’s basketball team, and, of course, she gave a score prediction for the ND-Miami showdown. As expected, she took the Irish over the Hurricanes and was right.
And best of all, the fans welcomed her with MVP chants while she was on camera.
Hidalgo joins elite class of women’s college basketball players to appear on GameDay
Hidalgo isn’t the first women’s college basketball player to appear on GameDay, but the list isn’t exactly long either.
Other women’s college basketball players who have appeared on GameDay include Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Candace Parker, Mikayla Blakes and Chiney Ogwumike.
Other women’s college basketball icons have appeared on GameDay too, including South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, but overall, it’s a pretty short list, which is why Hidalgo’s appearance is such a big deal.
Picture perfect weekend for Hidalgo
Talk about the perfect weekend for Hidalgo and Notre Dame. The football team took down No. 1 Miami, the women’s basketball team obliterated Stonehill, 123-40, on Friday,
Hidalgo set the record for the most career 20-point, 10-steal games this century after putting up 27 points and 10 steals against the Skyhawks, and she got a big public relations boost by appearing on GameDay.
What more could she have done this weekend? Guess the exact score for the ND-Miami game? I suppose so, but that’s asking for a lot, and it didn’t happen (she had the Irish winning 24-7).
Is Hidalgo the most popular person on campus?
When’s the last time a women’s college basketball player was the most popular person in South Bend? Probably never, but that might not be the case anymore.
No disrespect to Marcus Freeman or CJ Carr, but Hidalgo might have them both beat.
And that’s saying something because Freeman is one of the most revered coaches in college football and Carr is a future first-round pick and currently the favorite to win the Heisman.
But they’re not currently on Hidalgo’s level yet. That could certainly change if Carr wins the Heisman and ND wins the National Championship, but for now, Hidalgo has them both beat.
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