The Fighting Irish star will take to the international stage this summer when she lines up for her country at the AmeriCup, and has received the backing of someone who knows her all too well
17:36 ET, 20 Jun 2025Updated 17:36 ET, 20 Jun 2025
Notre Dame Head Coach Niele Ivey has thrown her full support behind Hannah Hidalgo at Team USA trials this week
Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said she is “proud” of Hannah Hidalgo after watching the Fighting Irish star compete at this week’s USA Basketball Women’s AmeriCup Team trials, where she was reunited with Olivia Miles after her decision to transfer to TCU.
The 47-year-old has actually been working alongside point guard Hidalgo at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs over the past few days, having taking up the role of assistant coach with the national team after enjoying a spell in the same role with the U18 team last year.
Last month, former Notre Dame star Jewell Loyd paid tribute to Ivey after a WNBA preseason game, even though she had never played for her at South Bend. Elsewhere, the University of Notre Dame women’s basketball program is set to hire Jas Smith as its new director of operations.
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This week, Hidalgo and Ivey linked up for Team USA duty, with the former named as one of 21 athletes given the opportunity to play for a spot on the AmeriCup roster this summer, alongside former Notre Dame star Olivia Miles.
The trials began on June 17 and concluded on Thursday, before the final 12-player roster was announced on Friday. Both Hidalgo and Miles made the final cut, as did the likes of LSU star Flau’jae Johnson.
On Thursday, however, Ivey took the opportunity to offer her support to Hidalgo with a post on X (formerly Twitter). Alongside a photo of the pair at this week’s trials, she wrote: “Such a blessing to be a part of @usabasketball and to support and watch Hannah compete !! Proud of you @HannahHidalgo.”
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Fans were lapping it up straight away, with many taking to the comments section to laud both the Notre Dame stars. “This is awesome,” one person wrote, while another said: “Just too cute and great coach and player.”
Once it was officially confirmed that Hidalgo had made the 12-player roster, Notre Dame’s X account congratulated the college basketball star, which Ivey reposted to her own account with the caption: “Going for GOLD”.
Having seemingly impressed enough to make the final team, Hidalgo will now be looking to impress on the international stage just as much as she does for Notre Dame. In fact, the 20-year-old already has a decent track record, having tasted success with the U17 (2022) and U19 (2023) Women’s World Cup teams.
She also won the 2023 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year award following her performance in the latter, having averaged 10.7 points and 5.4 assists per game to lead help lead her team to the gold medal in Madrid.
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During that tournament two years ago, Hidalgo broke the record for single-game steals (8) and assists (13), earning her a spot on the tournament’s All-Star 5 list. Now, she’ll be aiming to break further records at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, which gets underway next week.
Miles, Hidalgo and the rest of the Team USA team started training for the tournament immediately on Friday, with the camp set to run for a week until June 27. The AmeriCup will then begin the following day in Santiago, Chile, before concluding on July 6.
Looking to stop the United States and Hidalgo in their tracks are Colombia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the host nation, Chile, who have all been placed in Group B. With Ivey and Hidalgo amongst the ranks, Team USA will certainly fancy their chances of success.