BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coach Shea Ralph was named the 2025-26 SEC Coach of the Year, the league office announced on Tuesday.
Ralph becomes the first Vanderbilt head coach to win SEC Coach of the Year after guiding the Commodores to a school-record 27 regular-season wins and a program-best 13 SEC wins.
Vanderbilt was well-represented in the 2025-26 SEC postseason awards, as in addition to Ralph’s SEC Coach of the Year award, Mikayla Blakes was selected as SEC Player of the Year and Aubrey Galvan earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors.
It is just the sixth time in SEC history that the same school won the league’s Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards in the same season. Vanderbilt becomes the fourth SEC to accomplish the feat, joining Tennessee (1997-98, 2010-11, 2012-13), Kentucky (2009-10) and South Carolina (2013-14).
Ralph took a Vanderbilt team that returned just one starter from a season ago and led the Commodores to their most successful regular season in school history in 2025-26. She becomes the first Vanderbilt coach to be voted SEC Coach of the Year by the league’s coaches. She is the second Commodore women’s basketball head coach to earn an individual honor, as Jim Foster was the USBWA National Coach of the Year in 1992-93 after leading the Dores to the Final Four.
The fifth-year head coach guided Vanderbilt to a top-five ranking in both the AP top 25 and USA Today/WBCA coaches poll for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The Commodores have spent five weeks inside the top five and have been ranked in the top 10 for nine straight weeks heading to the 2026 SEC Tournament.
The 13 SEC wins set the school record for most conference victories in a season. The Dores earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament, as Vanderbilt posted its highest finish in the SEC standings since 2008-09.
The 27 wins are the most in a regular season in school history, while it is the fifth-most overall for a Vanderbilt women’s basketball team. The 27 victories are the most for the Dores since the 2006-07 season. Vandy opened 2025-26 by winning a school-record 20-straight games. Vanderbilt also posted seven wins against ranked foes this season, the most in a regular season since 1995-96.
Vanderbilt went a perfect 16-0 at Memorial Gym this season, marking the first time in program history that the Commodores went undefeated at home in a regular season. Ralph has the Dores are on track to host their first NCAA Tournament game since the 2011-12 season.
𝗦𝗘𝗖’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵
Congrats to @SheaRalph on earning the school’s first SEC Coach of the Year honor
⚓️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/unX5LmrQaW
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) March 3, 2026
No. 5/5 Vanderbilt has secured the tournament’s No. 2 seed and will play in its first game at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Friday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
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