Shea Ralph, Mikayla Blakes to Train With Team USA: The Anchor – Sports Illustrated

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Vanderbilt women’s basketball’s season may be over, but head coach Shea Ralph and her star guard in Mikayla Blakes are making headlines early in the offseason.
Ralph and Blakes will participate in the training camp for Team USA Women’s Basketball this Wednesday through Friday in Phoenix, Arizona. Ralph will be an on-court coach while Blakes while Blakes will be one of 15 players participating in the training camp for Team USA. Blakes is the only collegiate player participating in the training camp.
This is the second time Ralph will be an on-court coach for Team USA. She will join head coach Kara Lawson’s coaching staff during the training camp. Also on the staff is Niele Ivey, Nate Tibbetts, Stephanie White and Natalie Nakase.
The coach-player duo of Ralph and Blakes was potent during the entirety of the 2025-2026 Vanderbilt women’s basketball season. The two helped lead the program to a program record 29 wins with a 29-5 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16. It was the first time the Commodores have advanced that far in a season since 2009.
Blakes put up numbers that were well-worthy of consideration for the National Player of the Year. Blakes posted over 27 points per game leading into the postseason while averaging 30 points per game during conference play.
As the two look to take Vanderbilt to greater heights next season, Ralph and Blakes will hope to make their mark in training camp this week.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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