Just last week Flau’jae Johnson of LSU walked the red carpet at the iconic Met Ball. A first round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Kiki Iriafen, formerly of USC, is focused on helping the Washington Mystics return to league supremacy. Hannah Hidalgo is wrapping up her spring semester at Notre Dame and planning her training for the summer. The 2024-25 college seasons of each of the three is chronicled in season two of the ESPN original series “Full Court Press,” which premiered earlier this month and is now available on ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+.
“Casting for ‘Full Court Press’ was extremely difficult,” said series director Nikki Spetseris. “There is so much talent out there and so many good stories to follow. We really felt that with these three women — Flau’jae, Hannah and Kiki — we ended up with a good balance of different locations, different types of programs, different personalities and women at different stages of their college careers.
“All these women are so inspiring in different ways,” she added. “I think what stood out immediately for me was Flau’jae’s star power, Hannah’s ferocity on the court and Kiki’s poise.”
ESPN’s commentary team of Elle Duncan, Chiney Ogwumike, and Andraya Carter play a big role in this season’s episodes, adding context to each player’s story as well as narrating the game action featured. Hidalgo and Iriafen’s teams are even shown facing off against each other. Each team’s head coach: Kim Mulkey of LSU, Lindsay Gottlieb of USC and Niele Ivey of Notre Dame let cameras in the locker rooms to provide behind-the-scenes action. “It was interesting watching how all three programs operate differently,” said Spetseris.
At the conclusion of the college season, Hidalgo’s teammate Olivia Miles entered the transfer portal as rumors swirled that Hidalgo would as well, but she is remaining with the Fighting Irish. “For Hannah, we filmed a meeting with her and Coach Ivey talking about what the team will look like next season,” Spetseris said.
All three players allowed the cameras considerable access, even understanding that there would be difficult moments, such as after a loss, which would be necessary to film to give viewers a true understanding of what goes into a season. Communication between production and the players made that possible.
“As storytellers, we really just encouraged the women to be who they are, and I think they all bought in and their personalities really shone through in an honest way,” said Spetseris.
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