INDIANAPOLIS – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) has named Vanderbilt women’s basketball sophomore Mikayla Blakes to its 2025-26 Ann Meyers Drydale preseason watch list.
The USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award preseason watch list is the latest honor for Blakes. The Somerset, New Jersey, native is one of 50 players from across NCAA Division I to be considered for the honor, which goes out annually to the top women’s college basketball player since 1987-88.
It is the latest preseason accolade for Blakes. Earlier this week, the guard had been named to the Wade Trophy Watch List and has been named to The Athletic Preseason All-America first team and the USA TODAY Sports All-America second team. She is also on the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year watch list and was named preseason first-team All-SEC by the league’s coaches and media. Additionally, Blakes was also named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year watch list.
The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the women’s national player of the year by the USBWA. Named for the legendary UCLA guard, the award was first presented in the 1987-88 season and formally named in Meyers Drysdale’s honor in the 2011-12 season. Ann Meyers Drysdale played at UCLA from 1974-78, which pre-dates the USBWA All-America selections. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership. The winner of the award will be announced at the 2026 Women’s Final Four in Phoenix, with the formal presentation to follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
The All-American opened her sophomore campaign with a 27-point, 3-steal performance in a 74-65 win over California in Paris, France. It was Blakes’ 22nd career game with 20-plus points, while it was the 11th time she has scored 25 or more in a game at Vanderbilt. Tonight’s effort extends her double-digit scoring streak to 20-straight games dating back to last season, while it is her fifth-consecutive contest with 20-plus points.
Blakes is coming off the most successful freshman campaign in program history. She averaged 23.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game a season ago. Her 23.3 points per game average ranked first among all NCAA Division I freshmen, while she led first-year players nationally in seven different categories. She also posted the second-highest scoring average (23.3 ppg) in a season in school history and scored the second-most points (769).
The guard was named the USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year last season, making her the first Commodore to win a National Freshman of the Year honor from any publication. She was also named an All-American by six different publications during her rookie campaign.
Along with her national honors, Blakes was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches and was named the SEC Newcomer of the Year by USA Today in 2024-25. The guard set the NCAA Division I single-game scoring record for a freshman by scoring 55 points in an overtime win at Auburn on Feb. 16, 2025. Blakes twice set the SEC and Vanderbilt single-game scoring records, as she first had 53 points at Florida on Jan. 30, then topped that performance with a 55-point effort at Auburn. She is the second NCAA Division I player in NCAA history to score 53-plus points in multiple games in a season and the first since the 1988-89 campaign.
The No. 19/21-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens the 2025-26 home slate on Nov. 10, as the Commodores host Furman. Tipoff against the Paladins is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
For more information and exclusive content on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, follow @VandyWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
