Nicole Cardaño-Hillary signs with pro club IDK Euskotren

Good afternoon, Hoosier fans!

Another Indiana women’s basketball alum will be joining the pro ranks, as former Hoosier Nicole Cardaño-Hillary has signed a deal with IDK Euskotren of the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto:

The club is based in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, which allows this signing to double as a homecoming. Cardaño-Hillary was born in Madrid and lived there until age 12 when she moved to the US.

The Spaniard was a defensive menace during her two seasons in Bloomington. She recorded 103 steals as a Hoosier and made both the All-Big Ten Defensive team and Big Ten All-Tournament team this past spring. She also helped lead Indiana to back-to-back Sweet Sixteens and the Elite Eight in 2021, coming up with multiple clutch plays in both postseasons (read more about her impact here). It will be a long time until we see another player play the “candy-striped pest” role as well as NCH. Simply the best.

Before transferring to IU, Cardaño-Hillary spent three years at George Mason where she became one of the best players in program history. She’s the Patriots’ all-time leading scorer and was Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 2018-19. She also has A10 Rookie of the Year, All-A10 Defensive team, and numerous VaSID honors to her name. She finished her five-year collegiate career with 2,343 points, 319 steals, and 232 threes made. The combo guard started 143 of 150 career games split between Bloomington and Fairfax. NCH leaves her mark wherever she goes, IDK Euskotren are in good hands.

One last little note is that Cardaño-Hillary’s club plays in the same league as fellow 2022 Graduate Aleksa Gulbe’s. Here’s to hoping the next ten championships alternate between IDK Euskotren and Perfumerías Avenida, we cannot wait to see the former teammates square off soon.