SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Saturday that Vanderbilt women’s basketball sophomore Mikayla Blakes won the 2026 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award, part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting 5.
Blakes becomes the first Vanderbilt women’s basketball player in program history to win a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting 5 award. The Anne Meyers Drysdale Award, named after the trailblazing Hall of Famer from UCLA, goes to the nation’s top shooting guard. The Selection Committee is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers. Blakes becomes the eighth player to win the Anne Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year award, which has been given annually since 2018.
The sophomore guard averaged 27.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 steals per game this season. Her 27.0 points per game led NCAA Division I in scoring and set the Vanderbilt single-season scoring record. Her 918 points are the most scored in a season in SEC history and set the NCAA’s all-time sophomore scoring record. Blakes had 13 games with 30 or more points, which led the nation and is the most 30-point performances by an SEC player this century.
The guard has been racking up the awards during the 2025-26 postseason. Blakes has been selected as a first-team All-American by the WBCA, Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, The Athletic, USA Today, ESPN and The Sporting News. The sophomore guard was named the 2025-26 SEC Player of the Year by both the league’s coaches and USA Today, and All-SEC first team by both outlets. Additionally, she has been named a finalist for the Wooden Award and the Honda Award, while she was also a finalist for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy.
The Anchored for Her Campaign
Vanderbilt launched the Anchored for Her campaign to honor its pioneering female student-athletes and cement the university’s place as the premier destination for women’s sports ahead of next year’s 50th anniversary of its varsity women’s teams. Bolstered by lead gifts from Vanderbilt Board of Trust members Nina Kohler and Kathleen Justice-Moore, JD’91, Anchored for Her’s initial $50 million goal will fuel investment in sustainable success for a new era of collegiate athletics through facility enhancements, endowed scholarships, coaching and staff positions, capital support and naming opportunities, team-specific Excellence Funds, the Women’s Athletics General Fund and the Competitive Excellence Fund.
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