Joining an exclusive club with former Iowa star Caitlin Clark also are Hannah Hidalgo and Flau’Jae Johnson.
Two of the three collegiate players ESPN highlights in Season 2 of the “Full Court Press” series will be Hidalgo and Johnson; USC forward Kiki Iriafen will be the third star selected for the series. The three players’ fortunes over the 2024-25 campaign will be explored in the docu-series.
Hidalgo’s impact on both sides of the ball is obviously visible as Notre Dame’s talisman; the sophomore averages 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 3.7 steals per game.
Johnson, who usually was the person Kim Mulkey looked to when the Tigers needed a spark, helped cover the vacuum Angel Reese left at LSU. Finally, Iriafen’s participation fits very beautifully with JuJu Watkins and the Trojans this season since she moved to USC following a brilliant stay with Stanford.
“The growing momentum behind women’s basketball is driven by its stars; ‘Full Court Press’ features three unforgettable, larger-than-life personalities,” Vice President of Production for ESPN Originals Lindsay Rovegno said in a Monday statement.
“Hannah, Flau’s Jae, and Kiki are outstanding people more than they are players. Second season catches the passion and fortitude that define them. It gives us great pleasure to keep sharing these engaging narratives and highlighting the development of the sport.
The four-part series’s producer, Omaha Productions founder Peyton Manning, claimed that “right now” is the ideal time for a fan of women’s college basketball. “We’re excited to tell the tales of these three gifted women as they keep pushing the game to new heights,” he said.
ESPN should pick Hidalgo, Johnson, and Iriafen since each of the three outstanding performers excels in their own unique way. For example, Hidalgo is a fierce presence on the court, usually regarded as the outspoken leader for the Fighting Irish, but she draws on her faith and family as a far more modest figure off the court.
Johnson, meantime, is a future rap artist who also manages her name, image, and likeness (NIL) arrangements with Unrivaled, Apple Cash, and Amazon, among others. Johnson is said to have a NIL worth of $1.5 million, among the highest-earning female collegiate basketball players.
Regarding Iriafen, ESPN will aim to present her choice to come to USC in hopes of being the missing piece to help the Trojans win the national championship parlaying that into becoming a top-5 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
The first season included Clark, former South Carolina player Kamilla Cardoso and UCLA star Kiki Rice; this season concentrated on a fresh crop of college basketball talents. The Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky drafted Clark and Cardoso respectively; both players earned a reputation in the WNBA while Rice stayed at UCLA, the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament this year.
The first two seasons will premiere on May 3 on ESPN and the latter two on May 11 on ESPN2.