Notre Dame junior Hannah Hidalgo was named the 2025-26 Preseason ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Tuesday, Oct. 14. The honor was voted by Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) coaches and media.
Hidalgo is the reigning ACC Player of the Year after shooting 40% from the 3-point line and 85% from the free throw line while averaging 23.8 points per game for the Irish in the 2024-25 campaign.
Hidalgo is coming off a historic season for Notre Dame, including being named an All-America First Teamer, a Wooden Award Finalist and a Naismith Player of the Year Finalist. Hidalgo, who averaged 3.6 steals per game last season, was also named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
In other Notre Dame women’s basketball ACC preseason news, freshman Leah Macy was named to the ACC Newcomer Watch List. Lacy was a McDonald’s All-American as a senior out of Bethlehem High School (Elizabethtown, Kent.) and the five-star recruit was the No. 19-ranked recruit in the Class of 2025.
Notre Dame was selected to finish fifth out of 18 teams in the ACC preseason poll.
Kyle Smedley is a high school sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email atksmedley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named Preseason ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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