Vanderbilt’s Shea Ralph was named national coach of the year by ESPN and the Sporting News, according to a March 16 media release.
Ralph, in her fifth season with Vanderbilt women’s basketball (27-4), led the team to one of the best regular seasons in program history. The Commodores were undefeated at home for the first time and set a record for wins (27) and SEC wins (13). She was also named SEC Coach of the Year.
The Commodores drew a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and will take on No. 15 seed High Point (27-5) at Memorial Gymnasium on March 21 (6 p.m. CT, ESPNews).
Ralph has the Commodores in their third straight NCAA tournament. She coached Aubrey Galvan to SEC Freshman of the Year and Mikayla Blakes to SEC Player of the Year honors.
Vanderbilt previously had one coach win a national honor: Jim Foster in 1992-93, which he won after the Commodores went to the Final Four.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
