ALBANY, NY — The first time Hannah Hidalgo and Maddie Booker met, they didn’t quite hit it off immediately…at least in the version Booker told. They were matched as roommates by staff for a week-long stay in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for a U.S. under-17 team training camp.
On the court, Hidalgo was reminiscent of what she is today for Notre Dame: a small player with a defensive game that made it seem like there were three of her on the court. She drove the rest of the training camp participants against a wall with her steals and defensive pressure. But Booker, who was considered the team’s extrovert, was surprised to see how quiet Hidalgo really was off the field.
“She wasn’t sociable,” Booker said. “She stood out because she was more for herself.”
One night, while she was in their room, Booker began to encourage Hidalgo to talk more and open up to his potential new teammates. Booker remembers Hidalgo looking up from his phone and saying, “I’m fine. »
Booker realized that Hidalgo was the most talkative when she was arguing about something. So Booker thought that if this was the only way Hidalgo could start a conversation, then she would take it as a challenge to find the topics Hidalgo would discuss.
“I used to purposely piss him off,” Booker joked. “We started arguing – it was all fun and games. … But people told us, ‘When you leave here, you’ll be best friends.’
Booker thought maybe there was some truth to that. Hidalgo, if only on principle, disagreed.
So it’s no surprise that when this story is told by Hidalgo, she has a different opinion.
“She’s lying,” Hidalgo said with a laugh. “When we’re together, we just talk to each other. …I think I brought him more out of his shell.
The disagreement in question is emblematic of their relationship. Many within Team USA management consider Hidalgo and Booker sisters – they bicker like no other, but few are so loyal to each other.
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