A Hook represents an institutional need. NMF finalists aren’t an institutional need.
The academic ability associated with it however suggests an ability to thrive in elite schools. That is the reason for the correlation.
No school sets out to recruit NMF for NMF sake. They do “inadvertently” admit many because of the attributes it confirms. If they highlight it after is irrelevant much as school’s that highlight they “only” accept less than 20% of the valedictorians that apply. It is a statement of selectivity post admission process not an indication of a hook.