PHOENIX – On Thursday, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced the Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coach Shea Ralph was named the 2025-26 WBCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year, while sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes was selected to the WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America team.
Ralph becomes the first Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coach to win the Pat Summitt Trophy, which is given annually by the WBCA to the top NCAA Division I head coach. She is the first Commodore head coach to be named WBCA Coach of the Year. Ralph becomes the second member of the Vanderbilt women’s basketball program to earn an individual award from the WBCA, as Jennifer Risper was named the 2009 WBCA Defensive Player of the Year.
The WBCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year is selected by the WBCA NCAA Division I Awards Committee.
Blakes becomes the first Vanderbilt player to be selected to the 10-member WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America team since Chantelle Anderson’s back-to-back selections in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. The sophomore becomes the fifth Commodore to be named to the WBCA All-America team, joining Anderson, Sheri Sam (1995-96), Heidi Gillingham (1992-93) and Wendy Scholtens (1989-90). Overall, it is Blakes’ second career WBCA All-America selection, as the guard was named to the honorable mention team last season.
The WBCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year is the sixth national coach of the year honor that Ralph has earned during the 2025-26 campaign. The fifth-year head coach has earned the distinction from the Naismith Awards, USBWA, ESPN, The Athletic and The Sporting News. She is the first Vanderbilt head coach to win a national coach of the year award since Jim Foster in 1992-93, when he was named USBWA Coach of the Year.
In her fifth season at the helm in the Music City, Ralph guided Vanderbilt back to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 17 seasons. The Commodores posted a 29-5 overall record and a 13-3 mark in SEC games. Vandy’s 29 wins are the third-most in program history, while the 13 SEC victories set the school record for the most conference victories in a season. The Dores earned a No. 2 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and hosted March Madness games in Memorial Gymnasium for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign. Ralph guided Vanderbilt to a top-five ranking this season in both the AP top 25 and the USA Today/WBCA coaches poll, marking the first time since the 2001-02 season. The Commodores spent five weeks inside the top five, while Vanderbilt was ranked in the top 10 in both polls for 12 consecutive weeks heading into the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
Blakes 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 points scored in a season in SEC history. The guard has been racking up the postseason awards this season. Blakes has been named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, The Athletic, ESPN and The Sporting News. Earlier this month, Blakes was selected as the SEC Player of the Year by both the league’s coaches and USA Today, and was named to the All-SEC first team by both outlets. Additionally, Blake is a finalist for the Wooden Award and was one of the finalists for the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year.
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.
For more information and exclusive content on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, follow @VandyWBB on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
2025-26 WBCA Awards
Wade Trophy: Sarah Strong, UConn
WBCA Defensive Player of the Year:Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
WBCA Coach of the Year: Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt
2025-26 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-Americans:
| Player | Institution |
| Lauren Betts | UCLA |
| Mikayla Blakes | Vanderbilt |
| Madison Booker | Texas |
| Jaloni Cambridge | Ohio State |
| Joyce Edwards | South Carolina |
| Azzi Fudd | Connecticut |
| Hannah Hidalgo | Notre Dame |
| Raven Johnson | South Carolina |
| Olivia Miles | Texas Christian |
| Sarah Strong | Connecticut |
