As Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross sports have gone quiet over the past few months, professional opportunities and individual accolades have taken center stage. Here’s a rundown of this year’s biggest summer headlines around tri-campus athletics.
Hidalgo, Ivey bring home gold
The faces of the Notre Dame women’s basketball program represented the Irish well in July, capturing gold in two different competitions. Rising junior guard Hannah Hidalgo led off in Chile, leading the United States National Team to the gold medal in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. After tallying 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in the final game against Brazil, Hidalgo was named to the AmeriCup’s All-Star Five team.
Two weeks later, Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey claimed her second gold medal as a USA Basketball assistant at the FIBA U19 World Cup. She now has back-to-back years atop the international stage after securing gold at the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup.
Irish get the call in NHL, MLB Drafts
Each of the two Big Four sports that drafted over the summer featured Notre Dame prospects, beginning with the National Hockey League at the end of June. The Toronto Maple Leafs selected incoming freshman forward Will Belle in the fifth round (137th overall). The Irish enter the 2024-25 season with seven draftees on their roster, and their next drafted player will be their 100th in program history.
In mid-July, two more of Notre Dame baseball’s brightest stars found new homes in the MLB Draft. Right-handed pitcher Rory Fox first went to the New York Yankees in the sixth round after pitching to a 3.58 ERA across 14 starts during the 2025 season. The 20th and final round of the draft saw the Seattle Mariners pick up shortstop Estevan Moreno, who led the Irish with 14 doubles and ranked second on the team in home runs (10) and runs batted in (43) this past year.
The year of Jacob Modleski
Since April, it feels as if each passing month has unlocked a new feat of greatness from Jacob Modleski. After winning the first individual ACC title in Notre Dame men’s golf history to cap off the spring, Modleski finished inside the top 25 at the NCAA Championships in late May. His accolades didn’t stop there, carrying into June with All-ACC Team recognition.
Most recently, at the beginning of this week, Modleski was selected to compete for Team USA in the prestigious Walker Cup. Only ten players represent the United States in the event, which pits the top American amateurs against those of Great Britain and Ireland. This year’s Walker Cup will take place on Sept. 6-7 at Cypress Point Club in California.
Chukwu shines with Canada Soccer
Among the many massively talented sophomores of Notre Dame women’s soccer, one in particular has found eye-catching international success as of late. Forward Annabelle Chukwu, a native of Ottawa, has already made a big mark on Canadian women’s soccer. After passing the great Christine Sinclair to set the Canada Soccer record for goals scored for national youth teams last fall, she put two more feathers in her cap during the summer.
On June 8, she scored the winning goal in extra time to earn Canada the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship crown. Later that month, she received her call from the Canada Women’s National Team and made her senior debut against Costa Rica on the 27th.
