The 2023 class will be one to remember for Karen & Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey, who added the No. 5 recruit in the group on Tuesday.
Guard Hannah Hidalgo has signed with the Irish, becoming the third player to make the pledge to Notre Dame in the last week. She chose to make South Bend her home over Duke, Michigan, Ohio State, Stanford and UCF.
“Irish eyes are smiling!” Ivey said on Tuesday. “We are ecstatic to welcome five-star point guard Hannah Hidalgo to the ND family! Hannah brings swag, competitiveness, and a relentless drive that will instantly elevate our program. She is-multi dimensional, lightning fast and tenacious defensively with a scorer’s mentality and a high basketball IQ. Hannah does a great job of pushing pace and making everyone around her better. The Joyce Center will be electric to watch one of the fastest backcourts in the country with the additions of Hannah, Cass Prosper and Emma Risch.”
Hidalgo, who attends Haddonfield (N.J.) Paul VI, has a lengthy list of accomplishments. In addition to being the No. 5 recruit in the nation per the ESPNW HoopGurlz Rankings, the 5-6 point guard was the 2021-22 Courier Post South Jersey Player of the Year, 2022 Olympic Conference Player of the Year and a member of the 2022 All-Conference First Team.
Hidalgo has averaged 21.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 steals per game through three years at Paul VI, where she is coached by her father, Orlando. The team earned a second-place finish in the 2022 NJSIAA state tournament earlier this year.
On the USA Basketball front, Hidalgo was a member of the 2022 U17 National Team where she helped lead USA Basketball to a 7-0 record and a gold medal in the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup. The now-senior averaged 7.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game while overseas in Debrecen, Hungary.
Hidalgo joins Prosper and Risch, who are ranked No. 16 and No. 20 in the class, respectively. As it currently stands, Notre Dame is the only school in the country with three top-20 signees.