Mikayla Blakes
Mikayla Blakes
It has been an outstanding year for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Vanderbilt.
In the lead-up to both programs’ opening NCAA Tournament games this week, the Commodores have secured a number of national honors.
After being named the national freshman of the year, earning All-American status and rewriting the Vanderbilt record books in her first season in the Black and Gold, Mikayla Blakes has been named to a slew of All-American teams following the 2025-26 regular season.
The star sophomore has been selected as a first-team All-American by The Athletic, ESPN, The Sporting News, the USWBA and the Associated Press. In doing so, she becomes the first Commodore since Chantelle Anderson in 2003 to earn first-team All-American status, the sixth to be named an All-American in more than one season and the 11th to be voted a first-team All-American.
The SEC Player of the Year has also been named a finalist for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Award, the Wooden Award, the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
Commodore Head Coach Shea Ralph has been honored by just as many national organizations as Blakes. The former All-American and national champion at UConn has been named the national coach of the year by ESPN, The Athletic, The Sporting News and the USWBA, as well as the SEC Coach of the Year.
Ralph is just the second Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coach to earn a national coach of the year honor, following Jim Foster, who was named the USBWA Coach of the Year in 1993 after leading the ‘Dores to the Final Four.
On the men’s side, sophomore guard Tyler Tanner collected honorable mention All-American honors from both the Associated Press and the USWBA. The Brentwood native becomes the first Commodore to earn multiple All-American honors since Hendersonville native John Jenkins in 2012 and the 10th overall.
Tanner, who broke the school record for steals in a season during the SEC Tournament, has also been named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and the Lefty Driesell Award (also for defensive player of the year).
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