Shea Ralph named Naismith coach of year – nashvillepost.com

Mikayla Blakes and head coach Shea Ralph of the Vanderbilt Commodores are seen during the first half of a basketball game with the Furman Paladins at Memorial Gymnasium on Nov. 10, 2025.
Mikayla Blakes and head coach Shea Ralph of the Vanderbilt Commodores are seen during the first half of a basketball game with the Furman Paladins at Memorial Gymnasium on Nov. 10, 2025.
The honors continue to roll in for Vanderbilt women’s basketball coach Shea Ralph after she guided the Commodores to one of the most successful regular seasons in school history.
Ralph on Wednesday was named the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year.
The award is the fifth national coach of the year honor Ralph has earned this season, in addition to similar honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association, ESPN, The Athletic and The Sporting News.
“I am honored and grateful to be recognized [for this award],” Ralph said in a release.
“This award is so much bigger than me. Great players make great coaches, and I am incredibly blessed to get to coach great players on my team. My staff is my family, and their belief in me and in our program has helped us to one of the best seasons in school history.”
In her fifth season coaching Vanderbilt, Ralph led the Commodores to a 29-5 mark (.853 winning percentage) — including a 13-3 SEC record — and a trip to the NCAA Regional Semifinals.
Only the 1992-93 ‘Dores team, which went 30-3 overall (.909 winning percentage) — and 9-2 in the conference — on the way to the NCAA Tournament National Semifinals produced a more successful season.
Then-Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster was named the USBWA national coach of the year following that season.
Ralph led Vanderbilt to a top-five ranking in both the AP top 25 and the USA Today/WBCA coaches poll for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The Commodores spent five weeks inside the top five, while Vanderbilt was ranked in the top 10 in both polls for 12 consecutive weeks.
Ralph’s only returning starter from the 2024-25 season, sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes, was named the 2025-26 SEC player of the year and All-American by several publications. Freshman point guard Aubrey Galavan was named SEC freshman of the year.
The Commodores opened the 2025-26 season by winning a school-record 20 straight games.
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