Hannah Hidalgo pokes the ball free. It’s rolling on the ground, but Olivia Miles already knows what’s about to happen. She takes off running down the sideline as Hidalgo dives on the floor, skidding on her back before securing the ball and throwing a no-look pass over her head. It lands perfectly in the outstretched hands of Miles, who lays it in for two points.
If you could bottle that sequence, the label would read: “Essence of a Notre Dame Point Guard.” There’s a certain aura that every guard who represents the Fighting Irish possesses, and Miles and Hidalgo are no different. They join recognizable names like Skylar-Diggins Smith, Jackie Young, Marina Mabrey, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd and current Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey as part of a coveted sisterhood.
To be a Notre Dame point guard means to hold power and pressure in your hand at all times. It’s the ultimate privilege and, at the same time, a great burden.
“It’s a huge honor,” Ivey said. “Being able to play point guard here and to win a national championship was very special to me. So now, when I recruit, I know what type of point guard is going to be successful here.”
Ivey’s experience playing for the program and winning the ultimate prize was a major selling point for Miles, a 5-foot-10 fifth-year junior, and Hidalgo, a 5-foot-6 sophomore, during their recruitments. Ivey was an assistant when Notre Dame first reached out to Miles, who remembers being drawn to Ivey’s charisma and energy. “I thought she was so cool,” Miles said. Ivey then took a job with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies before eventually returning as Notre Dame’s coach in 2020.
“I loved what she stood for, what she was about, and then when she went to the NBA I was like, ‘OK, this is even cooler,’” Miles said. “Knowing she had that experience at Notre Dame and then at the highest level of the game, it was just cool to be around someone like that.”
Hidalgo took a bit longer to warm up to Ivey. Notre Dame wasn’t even on her radar when the recruiting process began. In fact, Hidalgo had her heart set on playing at Arizona. But Ivey saw her potential instantly. Hidalgo ended her senior year as the No. 5 recruit in the class of 2023, per ESPN’s Hoopgurlz, but Ivey wanted her in green and gold far before then.
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“She was different from any other coach who recruited me,” Hidalgo said. “She was consistent in wanting me and with her message and telling me how much of an impact I could make on the team. She was consistent from when I was just in the top 40, all the way until I was in the top five.”
They also appreciate the way Ivey holds them accountable. Heading into March Madness, there is extra pressure on Miles and Hidalgo. The Irish faltered late in the season, and head into the tournament having lost three of their past five games. After each loss, Ivey kept her squad in the locker room for 40 minutes before making her way out for media duties. Notre Dame was as high as No. 2 in the country earlier in the season. They beat teams like Texas, USC and UConn. And until those last few games, the Irish looked as if they would be a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Instead, they dropped to a No. 3 seed. But the potential is there. With Miles, 6-foot-3 forward Maddy Westbeld and 6-foot-1 guard Sonia Citron playing four years at Notre Dame and fellow seniors Liatu King, a 6-foot forward who came from Pitt, and Liza Karlen, a 6-foot-2 forward from Marquette, transferring in hopes of winning a title, the Irish have the talent to win it all. But with a core group that will graduate at the end of the season, they can’t afford to let that potential go to waste. Miles and Hidalgo are in charge of unlocking that potential in themselves and their teammates.
“The expectations are a lot higher for a point guard,” Ivey said. “You have to know exactly what everyone is doing. There is a weight you have to carry when you’re running a team. So being in that position requires a lot of patience and a lot of leadership.”
Miles and Hidalgo have a luxury most point guards don’t. They can split the weight.
During Hidalgo’s freshman season, Miles was sidelined with a torn ACL. As the team’s primary ball handler, Hidalgo averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game. Her debut season was so impressive that it had outsiders questioning where Miles would fit in when she finished rehabbing. People wondered if the two could play together, and there was even a rumor that Hidalgo might transfer. But Hidalgo was prepared for Miles to return. In fact, playing alongside Miles was one of the reasons she picked Notre Dame in the first place. Hidalgo believes that to win a National Championship, a team needs two elite point guards. And in high school, she played off the ball to prepare for her potential role at the college level.
This summer, when the team was playing casual pickup games, Westbeld noticed an instant chemistry between the point guards. It developed quickly, and by the fifth game of the season, a 74-61 win over USC, Miles and Hidalgo looked like they’d spent their entire lives playing together. “She’s always ready for the ball,” Hidalgo said of Miles, “because she makes the same kinds of passes I do.” In that game, Hidalgo finished with 24 points and 8 assists, and Miles had 20 points and 7 assists.
“Each of them are generational talents, individually,” Westbeld said. “So to have them playing together is really something special.”
It’s rare to play with one player of their caliber, let alone two. Ivey says she’s never been a part of a squad with two guards as talented as Miles and Hidalgo. Ivey describes the point guard position as her “first love,” so to see the way her duo excels side by side fills her with immense pride.
“I prayed for this,” she said. “To see it manifest in such a beautiful way, it has just been a coach’s dream, to be honest. I knew it was going to be a movie having these types of point guards, but to be a part of it is really cool because the energy is changing. You see these young girls looking up to them and you can see the flair of the game changing.”
Changing the game long has been part of the Notre Dame guard lore. Ogunbowale hit an iconic buzzer-beater against UConn in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Tournament and followed it up with another last-second shot against Mississippi State to win the title. Mabrey and Young celebrated beside her. A few years earlier, Diggins-Smith influenced little girls around the country to wear her signature white, tie headband. Rapper Lil Wayne even wore her jersey on stage for a performance. For years, the spotlight has seemed to shine a little brighter on the Notre Dame guards, which is why Miles and Hidalgo lean on the players that came before them.
Diggins-Smith, in particular, spends a lot of time around the program. Last season, she told Hidalgo that she wanted to see her lead the ACC in steals. Hidalgo ended up leading the country instead. Miles talks to Diggins-Smith regularly, and she found herself seeking out the WNBA star as she rehabbed her injury.
“One of the profound things she told me is that reps remove doubt,” Miles said. “That really stuck with me because you can always fall back on your preparation.”
Like the guards who came before them, Miles and Hidalgo have the same intangibles needed to play point guard at Notre Dame. But their personalities are vastly different. Hidalgo, Westbeld says, has a youthful spirit. She leads her team with infectious energy, while Miles is a true floor general. She’s a mellow, calming presence on the court. But both are competitive and loyal to one another.
“Liv is the best point guard in women’s college basketball right now,” Hidalgo said.
There’s the loyalty.
But does Hidalgo really think Miles is a better point guard than she is?
“Well, I’m a two-guard this year,” Hidalgo said with a laugh.
There’s the competitive fire.
They’ll need both in the NCAA Tournament.
