What Shea Ralph said about 5-star Vanderbilt women's basketball signee Mikayla Blakes
Vanderbilt women's basketball officially signed Mikayla Blakes, the Rutgers Prep five-star guard who is ranked the No. 8 player in the country by ESPN.
Blakes was a McDonald's All-American and the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year. She is the highest-ranked recruit to sign with the Commodores under Shea Ralph, and she will join fellow former McDonald's All-Americans Jordyn Oliver and Justine Pissott on the 2024-25 roster. Pissott and Oliver both joined Vanderbilt via the transfer portal before the 2023-24 season.
“Mikayla Blakes is the definition of elite, both on the basketball court and in the classroom,” Ralph said in a release. “From her mindset to her skill set, her academic drive to her ambition as a young woman, she will elevate our program in every single way.
“Mikayla is one of the most highly decorated high school student-athletes to come through our program. She has earned numerous accolades for her achievements as a basketball player, but it is the rare intangible qualities she possesses that have always been the most impressive to me. Her competitiveness and confidence, her relentless work ethic, her passion and drive to be great, and her ability to stay laser-focused on what’s important make her a perfect fit for Vanderbilt and for our program.”
Blakes originally committed to the Commodores in January. Her other finalists were Stanford, UCLA, Indiana, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Rutgers. She joins forward Trinity Wilson, who signed with the program during the early period, as the signees in Vanderbilt's 2024 class.
Vanderbilt qualified for the 2024 NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years, defeating Columbia in the First Four before falling to Baylor.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Shea Ralph said about Vanderbilt 5-star signee Mikayla Blakes
