FORT WORTH, Texas — Shea Ralph came to Vanderbilt with a specific vision: Run a women’s basketball program that wins games, but also mentors young women into the next phase of their life.
Candice Storey Lee, Vanderbilt’s athletic director, helped her do just that.
“It was the first time that I had heard a leader in her position, an athletic director, go so deep into how passionate she was about maximizing the true full potential of college student athletes,” said Ralph, who has the second-seeded Commodores in the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly 20 years.
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When the search for Vanderbilt’s next women’s basketball head coach began in 2021, it took only six days. From the get-go, it was clear that both Ralph and Lee felt the same way about the university.
“My favorite term for Shea is that she is playfully intense,” said Lee, who became the first woman and the first Black woman to lead an SEC athletics department when she accepted her job with the Commodores in 2020. “I think it’s a beautiful description of her, because she’s joyful, she’s fun, she’s spirited, but she’s deeply, deeply intense and serious about her craft.”
Lee has made three home-run hires during her tenure, bringing in Clark Lea, Mark Byington and Ralph. Vanderbilt’s football team produced a Heisman Trophy finalist and surpassed 10 wins for the first time in 122 years. The women’s soccer team won an SEC championship. Both basketball teams have back-to-back 20-win seasons.
It’s safe to say, Lee has done her job — and done it well.
“I also know what it’s like to be a student athlete at Vanderbilt,” Lee said. “It’s very important to me that they just feel welcome and know from the very beginning who we are, what we stand for and what they can expect.”
Mikayla Blakes, the nation’s top scorer, chose Vanderbilt for a lot of different reasons, but Lee was one of them.
“She’s invested so much into our program, and we want to do the same for her,” Blakes said.
Every collegiate program preaches culture, but few exhibit it the way that Vanderbilt and Lee do.
“We are different,” Ralph said. “It’s different. It’s relationship based. We have an amazing community.”
Lee’s ties to Vanderbilt date to 1996, her freshman year on campus. She played basketball for the Commodores and went on to earn her undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees from the university. A four-year letter winner and five-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, Lee helped lead Vanderbilt to an SEC title in 2002 and two Elite Eight appearances.
Mia Fishman is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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