In just her second year with Vanderbilt women’s basketball, Mikayla Blakes is already smashing records.
She holds the SEC’s single-game scoring record and the NCAA freshman scoring record for a 55-point game against Auburn in 2025. She was also the fastest player in program history to record 100 career points.
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Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Lee, a former Commodores basketball player herself, has had a front-row seat to Blakes’ college career.
In her sophomore season, Blakes has helped lead the fifth-ranked Commodores to an 18-0 start. She is the country’s second-leading scorer with 25.6 points per game, behind Iowa State’s Audi Crooks (27.6)
Vanderbilt is set to take on Michigan (15-2) in the Coretta Scott King Classic on Jan. 19 (1:30 p.m. CT, FOX) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
“There’s just such depth and character to Mikayla,” Lee said on a video call to preview the event. “One of my favorite things is that every time she talks, she’s very quick to say, I had the opportunity to go so many places, but I wanted to be part of building something special. We have everything we need at Vanderbilt for me, as a high-caliber athlete, to excel.
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“She’s excelling in every way. She does an incredible job in the classroom and she is a humble teammate and she’s a confident leader and she’s wonderful in our community. To me, she’s the epitome of what happens when you give young people an opportunity to shine.”
Why investing in women’s basketball is important to Candice Lee
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph is complimentary of Lee, frequently saying she gives the program what it needs to succeed. The men’s and women’s basketball teams saw recent facility upgrades, with the opening of the Huber Center that had new practice gyms and weight rooms.
“I want every single program that we have to be great,” Lee said. “I came from this women’s basketball program, so it is even more personal to me. But I also know that the program had demonstrated historically that it could be relevant and it could be great. And so to watch what Coach Ralph has done over the last five years, but it also lined up.
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“We went and found the right coach, and then we invested in the facilities, and then she went and found the personnel. And we’re not done yet . . . I am very excited because our alumni deserve that. They have great pride in that program, so it is important to me to invest, but it is important to me to invest in all of our programs.”
Lee said that Vanderbilt was soon to announce a women’s sports campaign to help provide further sustainable opportunities for women, though she did not provide further details.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Candice Lee talks about Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt women’s basketball
