Who's Afraid of Hannah Hidalgo?

Why there's been an omerta on discussing the most electric star in women's basketball

Rising women’s basketball superstar JuJu Watkins suffered an ACL tear on Monday night in USC’s tournament win over Mississippi State. This is unfortunate not just for Watkins but for the sport in general. In addition to just being depressing on its face, the injury is big derailment for a longstanding effort to market Watkins as next in line to be a face of the game. Perhaps you’ve caught wind of the JuJu blitz, but if not, here’s a brief summary from the New York Times:

That Watkins’ arrival into college basketball has coincided with an overall boom for the sport has only enhanced her popularity and her opportunities. Her portfolio is extensive, with 16 current national marketing deals, including Nike, State Farm, Gatorade and Fanatics. Her image is inescapable whether walking around Los Angeles — where she has a three-building-wide Nike billboard in downtown — or turning on the television.

The even shorter summary is that Nike and other brands went all in on Watkins in a way that was almost reminiscent of the push behind a young LeBron James. There was an organic aspect to it—Watkins was well loved early within her native LA basketball scene—but she also represented a top down bet on the future. Women’s basketball, following the emergence of Caitlin Clark, is a rising property. Clark is the biggest star, but that stardom has come with a lot of discourse noise. Nike can fast track a JuJu signature sneaker without it kicking off another dreary conversation about race on ESPN.

But now that’s all been derailed, or at least delayed. And recent bad circumstances make me wonder: At what point does Hannah Hidalgo get the spotlight? Or rather: Why hasn’t Hidalgo had the spotlight?

Overall this player is, in a vacuum, everything you’d figure this sport would be desperate to market. She’s small, dynamic, thrilling on both ends. You don’t have to be some NCAAW connoisseur to see it. Just watch the highlights.

So why the lack of publicity? It has a little something to do with a past controversy and the nameless shadow it can cast over the culture of this particular sport.