NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt women’s basketball coach Shea Ralph has agreed to a contract extension after her fifth season with the program proved the best so far, with the Commodores advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I tournament and Ralph winning the AP’s coach of the year award for her sport.
Athletic director Candice Storey Lee announced the extension Wednesday. Lee noted Ralph was hired just after the university launched the Vandy United program to renovate athletic facilities as part of a commitment to compete at the highest levels.
“She has delivered on that vision and is the right leader to keep elevating our women’s basketball program while inspiring our broader community as we set the standard for women’s athletics,” Lee said in a Vanderbilt release. “Her well-deserved recognition only reinforces what we see every day — she makes teams better, empowers women and brings people together.”
Terms of Ralph’s extension were not announced by the Nashville university, which is a private school.
Ralph, a 48-year-old North Carolina native, led a team that returned only one starter to the most successful season in program history.
Vanderbilt went 29-5, with 13 of those wins coming in the regular season against a rugged Southeastern Conference schedule. The Commodores tied for second in the SEC standings, which matched the best finish in program history, and received a double bye into the quarterfinals at the league tournament as one of the top four seeds.
Although they had a short stay at the SEC tourney — ranked fifth at the time, second-seeded Vanderbilt was upset by 24th-ranked, seventh-seeded Ole Miss in the quarterfinals, 89-78 — the Commodores received a No. 2 seed in the 68-team bracket for March Madness and regrouped to reach the NCAA’s Sweet 16.
Average attendance for women’s basketball games at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium also went up nearly 100% this past season compared to the last full season before Ralph was hired. She has taken Vanderbilt to three straight NCAA tournaments, ending the program’s 10-year drought.
“Shea Ralph exemplifies our commitment across the university to attract the most talented people who fit our culture and put them in an environment where they can succeed,” chancellor Daniel Diermeier said in Vanderbilt’s release announcing the extension.
An All-American point guard at the University of Connecticut during her playing days, Ralph helped the Huskies win the 2000 NCAA tournament, and she was an assistant on coach Geno Auriemma’s UConn staff from 2008-21, helping the program win six of its record 12 national championships while in that role. Prior to that, Ralph was an assistant at Pittsburgh from 2003-08, with injuries never allowing her pro playing career to get off the ground.
At Vanderbilt, the notable recruits for Ralph have included All-America guard Mikayla Blakes, who was the SEC women’s basketball player of the year as a sophomore this past season, and reigning SEC freshman of the year Aubrey Galvan.
“When I arrived in Nashville, I said it felt like it was only the beginning of something incredible,” Ralph said in the release. “And as much growth as we’ve had, the best part of being at Vanderbilt is I still feel that way every day.”
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