Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo stands as one of college basketball’s brightest stars, but her journey to the top nearly took a different path. The ACC Player of the Year almost walked away from basketball after discovering her remarkable talent in track and field, where she achieved Olympic-level success in just one year of competition.
Hannah Hidalgo’s Multi-Sport Dilemma: When Olympic Dreams Clashed with Basketball
Her mother, Tamara Hidalgo, revealed her daughter’s athletic versatility during an ESPN Deportes interview. “A lot of people don’t know that Hannah is equally as good in soccer,” Tamara explained, revealing the depth of her daughter’s athletic abilities.
The turning point came when Hannah decided to step away from soccer. “One year she decided she didn’t want to play soccer anymore. And, um, I told her she had to play two sports,” Tamara recalled. This maternal guidance led to an unexpected discovery that would change everything.
“So I said, Hannah, you should try to run track. And um in that one year, she ended up making it to the Olympics, um the Junior Olympics, and she won um a bronze in the javelin, threw it for the first time, and she won a silver um in the relay,” Tamara revealed.
This wasn’t just casual success – Hannah dominated track and field immediately. “She’s equally as good in track and field and in soccer,” her mother emphasized, highlighting the genuine Olympic potential that could have pulled Hannah away from basketball entirely.
Sticking with basketball has proven to be a golden decision for Hidalgo. In her sophomore year, she rewrote the record books at Notre Dame while helping push the Fighting Irish in ways that the school has not experienced in quite some time. Last season, she averaged 24.2 points per game, which was the third-best in the nation. Her average of 3.7 steals per game was the highest in the ACC.
Putting together this body of work and achievement has allowed her to experience rare company as both ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, making her the third player in ACC history to have been awarded the double honor. She is the fastest player in Notre Dame’s history to hit 1,000 career points, and of course, she did that in only her freshman and sophomore seasons. She is well over 600 points after two seasons in college.
Her last five games show her continuing excellence. She has had remarkable performances over ranked opponents USC, Texas, and UConn, including a stunning 29-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist performance against the Huskies last week.
While it is fair to say that she has not yet fulfilled her Olympic aspirations in track and field, her basketball journey is still unfolding. It has been amazing to watch as she continues to soar as a player and show that even though the road not taken can have meaning and beauty, the road taken can have even more meaning.