Cardaño-Hillary, a base with quality and a great future

The IDK Euskotren added its eighth member of the squad this Monday with the addition of Nicole Cardaño Hillary (Madrid, 1999), a 1.68-meter point guard who will make her professional debut after having trained in university basketball for the last five years American.

She is considered one of the most promising young women on the state scene due to the good role she has played in the George Mason teams, where she is the top scorer in team history; and the Indiana Hoosiers, with whom last year she reached the March Madness quarterfinals, being chosen the best player in the round of 32, a match in which they beat the top seed, North Carolina, with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and the two free throws that gave the victory thanks to the new IDK Euskotren signing.

In Indiana he has won the undisputed title and this last year he has averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals in 34 minutes of play in 32 games, with percentages of 41%. in field goals, 35.7% in triples and 67% in free throws.

Cardaño-Hillary, as she is better known, is of a Spanish father and an American mother. The family decided to go to the United States when she was twelve years old, so her basketball training is entirely American – she has graduated in International Relations – and her greatest challenge, in addition to the leap of embarking on professional basketball in one of the tougher leagues, is that of adapting to the game of this continent, something that many players find difficult.

A priori, and from what was shown in the NCAA, the Madrilenian is a point guard with talent both in attack and defense. Despite being a relatively small point guard, she has the self-confidence and body to create her spaces in the drives to the basket and she also has a good shooting hand, especially in the middle distance. Back Azu Muguruza gains a piece that will bring intensity and is capable of pressing the ball throughout the pitch. If there are no more signings at his position, Cardaño will share point guard responsibilities with Yurena Diaz.

The IDK Euskotren already has eight players and it stands out that six are Spanish with the two mentioned, María España, Natalia Rodríguez, Ane Esnal and Cristina Soriano; and that five are under 25 years old: Cardaño (23), Esnal (21), Rodríguez (23), Coulibaly (24) and Soriano (23). It is no coincidence, but that it is perfectly sought after for the demanding season that is to come when combining the league with Europe for the first time. The club already knows, for example, that between October 22 and November 19 it will have to play five league games and four Eurocup games. A match every three days and four weeks in a row with a double match, and for that he prepares a squad of eleven or even twelve players.