Tag: All-American

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named Wooden Award finalist

She had an incredible season, no?

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] racked up one record and honor after another during her freshman season at Notre Dame. Now, she’s going about as far as she can go as far as awards in women’s basketball. She has been announced as one of five finalists for the Wooden Award, which is given to the best player in the country.

Even though the winner will be announced Monday, merely being a finalist means Hidalgo will be invited to the ceremony April 12 in Los Angeles regardless if she wins the award or not. She also is one of 10 Wooden Award All-Americans.

In 35 games this season, Hidalgo became one of the country’s top scorers with 33.9 points a game. She also led the country in steals at 4.6 a game, and she averaged 5.5 assists a game. All that and more made her a First Team All-American and First Team All-ACC selection as well as the top rookie and defensive player in the ACC.

Hidalgo faces some incredibly stiff competition for this award. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the clear favorite to win it for the second straight year, but Hidalgo also is up against 2021 winner Paige Bueckers of UConn, fellow freshman phenom JuJu Watkins of USC and Stanford’s Cameron Brink. Still, the fact that she can be in the conversation with these players is a good indicator that she’ll keep the South Bend faithful coming to Purcell Pavilion for the next few years.

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Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named AP First Team All-American

What a season she’s had.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] has had a special freshman season at Notre Dame, and now, we know exactly how special. She has joined USC’s JuJu Watkins as the fourth and fifth freshmen to be named to the AP All-American First Team since it began during the 1994-95 season. They join Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley and Texas’ Madison Booker.

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Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb obviously has seen Watkins up close and personal throughout this season, but she reserved praise for Hidalgo, too:

“We’ve had a front row seat to JuJu, but what Hannah’s done is unbelievable Coach Niele (Ivey) has done an incredible job.”

Ivey also was quoted in the AP story and said this about Hidalgo, the nation’s steals leader at 4.6 a game and its third-leading scorer at 23.3 points a game:

“She deserves to be listed amongst the best in women’s basketball. Hannah is a fierce competitor and an elite performer who rises to the occasion and has been extremely consistent and dominant this season.”

What has to be scary to opponents is that Hidalgo only is getting started. She likely will hold many Irish records by the time she’s done with the program. Irish fans will be anxious to find out how many of those records she holds in the end.

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Duke’s Kyle Filipowski named Second Team All-American

Duke sophomore Kyle Filipowski is an All-American after the 7-footer made the Associated Press’s Second Team on Tuesday.

Duke forward Kyle Filipowski is an All-American.

The Associated Press revealed its national teams on Tuesday, honoring the best of the best in men’s college basketball, and the sophomore 7-footer was named to the Second Team.

Filipowski averaged 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game through the ACC Tournament, and he scored at least 20 points in 12 of his 32 games. He’s averaged 25.5 points across his last two games, including a 28-point effort in the tournament loss to NC State.

The Blue Devils’ star was also named All-ACC First Team for his efforts this season, and he becomes the first Duke player since Paolo Banchero also made the Second Team in 2022.

Filipowski joined Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, Alabama’s Mark Sears, Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II, and Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson on the team.

Purdue’s Zach Edey led the First Team alongside Dalton Knecht of Tennessee, RJ Davis of UNC, Jamal Shead of Houston, and Tristen Newton from Connecticut.

Notre Dame’s Kylee Watson will miss NCAA Tournament with torn ACL

Tough news.

When Notre Dame’s [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] went down with a knee injury during the Irish’s ACC Tournament semifinal win, many feared the worst. Those fears turned out to be true as Watson posted on Instagram that she tore her ACL and will not be able to play in this year’s NCAA Tournament:

https://www.instagram.com/kylee.watsonn/p/C4op-y6sq9G/?hl=en

This obviously casts a shadow over the Irish earning a No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament. There also will be questions moving forward about her availability for next season as All-American guard [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] has missed all of this season with a knee injury. A medical redshirt figures to be a possibility much like it happened with Miles this past season.

Watson has started every game for the Irish since transferring from Oregon before the 2022-23 season. This year, she averaged 6.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game. Needless to say, the Irish will miss her presence down low.

The loss of Watson also stretches the depth of an Irish roster hit hard already by injuries even further. Questions linger about how far they’ll be able to go this March Madness with so few players available. They got through the ACC Tournament all right, but they’ll facing teams now that might not be so forgiving with every game being an elimination game from here on. But they play the games for a reason, and we’ll see if the Irish can make some magic again.

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Notre Dame 2024 signee named Naismith Second Team All-American

Another top talent on the way to Notre Dame is honored.

Hannah Hidalgo has set a high bar for future Notre Dame freshmen. That doesn’t mean future first-year players won’t try to top her though. One player who could do it during the 2024-25 season is [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag].

Koval is a five-star player at Long Island Lutheran in Brookeville, New York who signed with the Irish in December. Now, she’s been named to the Naismith Trophy Girls’ High School All America Second Team.

Hidalgo made the Second Team in 2023, and [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] was an honorable mention. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] was a Third Team honoree in 2022 and an honorable mention in 2021. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] made the Third Team in 2020, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] and [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] were senior honorable mentions.

It’s evidence that even in the post-[autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag] era, Notre Dame continues to attract top talent for women’s basketball, and there’s no reason to think that will stop anytime soon. Even so, a strong postseason showing would do wonders to show just how attractive the program still is.

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Top 10 scorers in Notre Dame women’s basketball history

Here are some Irish legends.

The sports world is abuzz with Caitlin Clark becoming the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball. She hasn’t even gone professional yet, and many already are crowning her the GOAT. That label gets tossed around very liberally these days, but it’s hard to picture many athletes who have transcended their sport the way she has.

Despite what our site editor Nick Shepkowski might have said about me, Caitlin Clark is not my sister. Athleticism is not in my immediate family’s gene pool, or I would have kept following my NBA dreams years ago. Alas, the closest I can get to organized basketball these days is to write about it and create listicles about it.

I would like to demonstrate that ability right now by assembling a listicle of the top 10 scorers in Notre Dame women’s basketball history. It’s a great way to celebrate the new scoring queen in women’s college hoops, and the timing couldn’t be more appropriate:

Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles officially ruled out for the season

What we hoped wasn’t true has been realized.

Saturday began with the hope that injured Notre Dame All-American guard [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] would play this season. Before the Irish’s 82-67 upset of UConn, Miles was spotted taking shots on the court. There even was speculation that she would play in this game, but she soon changed back into the bench garb she’s worn all season.

While the game still was going on, the Fox announcing team of Gus Johnson and Stephanie White casually let it slip on the air that Miles had told them she wouldn’t play at all this season. This fueled speculation about how true that was. Although [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] didn’t confirm it in her postgame news conference, a Notre Dame official soon confirmed to several Irish beat reporters that the worst fears were in fact true:

This obviously puts a damper on a great night and is a tough blow for the player who was the face of the program until [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] started turning heads this year. The good news is Miles will have two years of eligibility remaining, so she and Hidalgo still will have time to be teammates on the court. Still, Irish fans can’t help but wonder how differently this season would have gone had she been able to play.

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Pair of Oregon Ducks make ESPN’s Way-Too-Early 2024 Second Team

Both Dillon Gabriel and Ajani Cornelius made the ESPN “Way-Too-Early” All-American team.

The 2024 college football season, which promises to be a historic one with the 12-team playoff expansion, is a little over eight months away. Oregon opens Week 0 on August 24 at Hawaii.

So obviously it’s time to think about All-American candidates.

The Oregon Ducks are expected to be one of the top teams next season with a legitimate shot at not only making the playoffs but also making a run at a possible national title.

One of many reasons is quarterback Dillon Gabriel, a senior transfer from Oklahoma. The window for winning a national title is open now and the Oregon coaching staff felt an experienced and successful quarterback was needed.

In their way-too-early selection of preseason All-Americans, ESPN puts Gabriel on the Second-Team. They put Georgia quarterback Carson Beck on the First Team.

In his two seasons at Oklahoma, Gabriel completed 66 percent of his passes good for 6,828 yards, 55 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He spent three seasons at Central Florida before that.

Another reason Gabriel chose to finish his career in Eugene was that he will play behind an experienced offensive line that will protect him. Ajani Cornelius will anchor the right side of the 2024 line for the Ducks and he was also part of ESPN’s Second Team only behind Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr.

The transfer from Rhode Island had a nice season in his first year on the D-I level where he played in all 14 games for the Ducks. Cornelius is a 6-foot-5, 308-pounder from Harlem, NY. He was an Honorable Mention on the All-Pac-12 team.

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Notre Dame’s JD Bertrand named First-Team Academic All-American

The captain is quite smart.

[autotag]JD Bertrand[/autotag] was a captain at Notre Dame the past two years. Somehow, that didn’t take the linebacker away from his studies enough for his grades to suffer. In fact, he absolutely thrived in the classroom, and now, he’s been recognized for that.

Bertrand has been named a First-Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators. He’s the 37th Irish player to be so honored and the first since [autotag]Drue Tranquill[/autotag] in 2016 and 2017. Other Irish honorees over the years include [autotag]Mike Golic Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag], [autotag]John Carlson[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Theismann[/autotag].

Bertrand was recognized by virtue of earning a 3.62/3.74 GPA. He also was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team alongside [autotag]Jack Kiser[/autotag] and [autotag]Davis Sherwood[/autotag]. There are some smart players on the Irish indeed.

Bertand’s current focus is preparing for the NFL draft. Whoever picks him, if anybody, will be getting someone with intelligence and leadership qualities. Hopefully, those will be on full display at the next level.

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Will Shipley Earns Second Career Academic All-America Honors

Will Shipley was as good in the classroom as on the field.

Clemson running back Will Shipley was named Tuesday as part of the 2023 Academic All-America football teams selected by the College Sports Communicators. Shipley, a 2022 honoree, was one of four Division I players on the 2023 Academic All-America team to earn repeat honors.

Shipley joins Steve Fuller (1977-78), Kyle Young (1999-2001) and Chad Carson (1999-2001) to become the fourth multi-time Academic All-American in program history. Clemson has had 14 different players garner a total of 20 all-time Academic All-America selections.

Shipley, who was already the first Clemson running back ever to be named as an Academic All-American, earned his Clemson degree in management in December, becoming the first scholarship football player on record at Clemson to graduate with a perfect 4.0 GPA in only three years.

CLEMSON ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS
1956: Charlie Bussey, QB
1957: Harvey White, QB
1959: Lou Cordileone, OT
1971: Don Kelley, DB; Ben Anderson, DB
1977: Steve Fuller, QB
1978: Steve Fuller, QB
1984: Mike Eppley, QB
1991: Bruce Bratton, OT
1994: Ed Glenn, TE
1995: Andye McCrorey, LB
1999: Kyle Young, C; Chad Carson, LB
2000: Kyle Young, C; Chad Carson, LB
2001: Kyle Young, C; Chad Carson, LB
2012: Dalton Freeman, C
2022: Will Shipley, RB
2023: Will Shipley, RB

More information from the College Sports Communicators, formerly known as CoSIDA, is included below.

AUSTIN, Texas – Four standouts headline a group of outstanding student-athletes named to the 2023 Academic All-America® football teams as selected by the College Sports Communicators.

Wide receiver Rome Odunze from the University of Washington, linebacker Nolan Reeve from the Colorado School of Mines, linebacker Owen Grover from Wartburg College and running back Jaden Meizinger from Keiser University lead the Academic All-America® teams by being named as the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the NAIA, respectively.

Click here to see the full CSC Academic All-America Team for 2023

Division I

One of three finalists for the 2023 Biletnikoff Award and a two-time All-American, Odunze led the Huskies’ receiving corps with 92 receptions for 1,640 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 contests. The 1,640 receiving yards led Division I and were a program record, while the 92 catches fell two shy of the school mark. The Las Vegas native recorded 10 100-yard receiving games this fall as Washington reached the national championship game and finished with a 14-1 record.

Fifteen of the 51 members of the Academic All-America® Division I football teams boast a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 27 members on the first team have an average GPA of 3.85, with both teams holding a collective average GPA of 3.83.

Four student-athletes are repeat selections on the Academic All-America® Division I football teams: Kyle Ostendorp (University of Arizona); Spencer Jorgensen (Stanford University); Will Shipley (Clemson University); and Zak Zinter (University of Michigan).

-Via Clemson Athletic Communications