ATLANTA – On Wednesday, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association named Vanderbilt women’s basketball junior Mikayla Blakes to its 2026-27 Wade Watch List.
Blakes earns a spot on the Wade Watch List for the second straight season, as she was a finalist for the Wade Trophy in 2025-26. The guard is one of 15 players named to the preseason watch list for the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women’s basketball, presented by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
It is the second national player of the year watch list that Blakes has been named to in 2026-27. She was also selected to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Player of the Year watch list, along with sophomore Aubrey Galvan. Blakes was also selected to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award preseason watch list, an honor she won in 2025-26.
The 14-All-American opened the 2026-27 campaign with a 27-point, 9-rebound, 6-assist performance in a 112-53 win over Lipscomb. It was the eighth time in Blakes’ career that she had 20-plus points, 5-plus rebounds and 5-plus assists in a game.
Blakes, the reigning SEC Player of the Year, had a record-setting sophomore campaign in 2025-26, as she set the SEC single-season scoring record with 918 points. Her 918 points in 2025-26 also set the NCAA sophomore scoring record. She averaged 30.5 points per game in SEC contests. She scored 30 or more points in 12 league games, making her the first SEC player this century to accomplish the feat.
The Wade Trophy, now in its 50th year, is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women’s basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I Player of the Year since 2001.
The Wade Watch List of candidates for the Wade Trophy is composed of players selected by the WBCA NCAA Division I Awards Committee. The committee will review the list midseason to determine whether additional players will be added based on their play during the first half of the 2025-26 season. The winner of the award will be announced in April during the 2025 WBCA Convention in Phoenix, site of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four.
The No. 8/9-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team takes on Queens Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT. Tonight’s contest against the Royals streams live on SEC Network+ via the Watch ESPN app, with Andrew Allegretta and Richard Hendrix on the call.
Fans can also listen to Andrew Selover call all the action locally on 94.9 The Fan and on the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville.
For more information and exclusive content on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, follow @VandyWBB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.