This season’s NPOY race has been nothing short of electric! Four favorites battle it out for victory every night, with an ever-changing leaderboard. JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, Lauren Betts, and Paige Bueckers have truly shown how high of a level they compete at this year. However, as the season draws to a close, the race might end up being completely one-sided.
Watkins has had a fantastic sophomore year at USC. She is currently putting up around 24, 3, and 6 on good shooting splits. With the Trojans’ Big Ten dominance, the six-foot-two guard has also been awarded the Big Ten POY honors, which was expected after USC beat UCLA by a large margin. However, The Athletic voting her the unanimous Player of the Year over Hannah Hidalgo definitely drew some eyebrows.
On the podcast Courtside Club with Rachel Annemarie DeMita, the show host discussed the situation. DeMita raised the question of why Hannah Hidalgo didn’t receive any votes from The Athletic. “It seemed like there was a little bit of bias, or a storyline that The Athletic was trying to follow.” DeMita said. She gave due credit to Watkins and the Trojans since they objectively had a better year, but recency bias might be playing a role in her success.
However, Hannah Hidalgo has been right there alongside Watkins in terms of statistical dominance. The Fighting Irish guard has led her team to the one seed alongside Olivia Miles, averaging 24 points and 5 rebounds per game. Her offensive brilliance has only gotten better in her sophomore year with Notre Dame.
Not only has Hidalgo had a great year, but she also took the head-to-head matchup between the two. “There’s also something to say with the fact that Notre Dame did beat USC, and Hannah had a crazy game against them.” The Notre Dame guard had 24, 8, and 6 with 5 steals against the Trojans in a 74-61 victory. By all means, a unanimous vote is a great injustice done towards Hidalgo.
The NPOY race this year is neck-to-neck. Even the NCAA league is quite evenly matched. There isn’t a consensus winner, and there isn’t a true top-3. Anyone can beat anyone, and we’re all excited to see how the game continues in March! JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo have a long road ahead of them in the postseason. However, the Notre Dame guard made history this year during the ACC awards.
Hannah Hidalgo’s ACC clean sweep
Hannah Hidalgo might be running out of space on her trophy case with how she has been winning recently! The Notre Dame sophomore has been making history for her program for the last two seasons. After her All-ACC and DPOY selections last year, everyone was expecting more from the point guard, and she delivered!
The Fighting Irish guard won ACC’s top honors, taking home the ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year titles. Not only that, she’s created history in Notre Dame too! She is the only player in program history to have over 600 points in both her freshman and sophomore years.
NCAA, College League, USA Womens Basketball: Duke at Notre Dame Feb 17, 2025 South Bend, Indiana, USA Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo 3 reacts after a Notre Dame basket in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils at the Purcell Pavilion. South Bend Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center Indiana USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMattxCashorex 20250217_tbs_sc5_067
On top of that, she has a hundred steals this year too, which is the sophomore record! No one can say she hasn’t made her case for NPOY honors. Whichever way the wind blows at the end, it end up being close and to the wire. Aside from Hidalgo, her teammates at Notre Dame have also been doing amazingly! Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron have made the All-ACC First Team, showing how dominant the Fighting Irish have been this season!
However, the Notre Dame team has a target on their back this season. Hannah Hidalgo’s brilliance has been tempered by her shooting inefficiencies recently, and that is definitely something teams will look to exploit in March.
JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo are a matchup that people would love to see. With both players performing at the NPOY level consistently, it will be interesting to see how their teams progress in March. What do you think about the debate? Who will win the award? Will Hannah Hidalgo make an unexpected victory? Only time will tell.
The post Grave Injustice Done to Hannah Hidalgo as National Analyst Breaks Silence Over JuJu Watkins’ “Unanimous” Honor appeared first on EssentiallySports.
