“Aneesah Morrow should be on this list”: Hoops fans debate as Hannah Hidalgo leads POTY race ahead of JuJu Watkins, Paige Bueckers and Lauren Betts
Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo has established herself as one of the best players in women's college basketball this season. Her impressive performances for Notre Dame have seen her emerge as a frontrunner for the National Player of the Year honor
In an Instagram post by espnW on Tuesday, ESPN's quartet of Kendra Andrews, Charlie Creme, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel project her as the favorite for the prestigious award.
They also named USC sophomore JuJu Watkins, UConn senior Paige Bueckers and UCLA junior Lauren Betts as Hidalgo's closest challengers for the honor. Conspicuous by her absence was LSU's senior forward Aneesah Morrow, who has been one of the main reasons for the Tigers' perfect record so far this season.
Fans immediately took to social media to express their feelings about Morrow not being considered a challenger for National Player of the Year. Some fans believed she deserved a mention considering she is averaging a double-double of 18.6 points and 14.4 rebounds for Kim Mulkey's side.
"I agree but Aneesah should definitely be on this list too," said one fan.
"Aneesah Morrow needs to be a front runner!!! Double-Double Every Game," said another.
Another fan added, "How is Aneesah morrow not in this conversation the disrespect is wild!!!"
Other fans thought the ESPN quartet got their projections right, believing Hannah Hidalgo is a clear favorite to succeed Caitlin Clark as the National Player of the Year.
"Hannah hands down no argument . Juju and Paige are great but what Hannah is doing is a movie, the plays the charisma that’s what makes bball fun," said one fan.
"The list is FINALLY correct because people are seeing how crazy Hannah’s game is, ALL-AROUND," said another.
Another fan added, "The other three are great challengers, but Hannah is in a whole different category."
Hannah Hidalgo faces stiff competition from JuJu Watkins in latest POTY odds
Hannah Hidalgo has been phenomenal for the Fighting Irish this season, averaging 25.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists. However, she currently ranks second with +130 odds for the National Player of the Year per DraftKings, with Watkins currently having the best odds of +110.
Watkins has been sensational in her own right, averaging 25.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.9 rebounds. Bueckers comes in third with odds of +330, while Morrow, Betts and Hidalgo's teammate Olivia Miles lead the dark horses with +5000 odds.