← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
All-Access: Vanderbilt's Shea Ralph and Mikayla Blakes
00:45:37
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- [00:00]
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Zena Kada
There to watch them.
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- [05:09]
Zena Kada
For the Athletic. I'm Zena Kada and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. Welcome to another special edition of the Athletic All Access where we tap in with influential voices around the world of women's hoops. Now, before we dive in, let me do my job. Gotta make sure you guys are subscribed to this show wherever you get Your podcast to ensure you don't miss out on really cool conversations like the one you're about to hear now. Today, Shantelle is joining me for a really cool conversation with the Vanderbilt basketball coach, Shay Ralph, as well as a standout freshman in Mikayla Blakes. Now, before we ever get our guests on and talking, we gotta make sure everyone gets acclimated to who you are and what you've done in the world of basketball. So, Coach, I'm gonna start with you. Your journey in basketball has been truly inspiring, including as me, a girl from Raleigh, North Carolina. Definitely very cool to see your name in the lights. You grew up Fayetteville, North Carolina, Terry Sanford High School. You had 17 state basketball records, Mikayla. Did you know that?
- [06:23]
Mikayla Blakes
Mm.
- [06:23]
Shay Ralph
Mm.
- [06:24]
Mikayla Blakes
Yeah.
- [06:24]
Zena Kada
You're looking these faces. Let's keep going.
- [06:26]
Shay Ralph
I love this. Keep going, keep going.
- [06:27]
Zena Kada
We are. We are. Impressive. 3002 career points and a single game high of 61. So, Mikayla, you've got work to do. Your outstanding performance, Coach, earned you the US Today National High School Player of the Year in 1996. Then you went to UConn, led the Huskies to a national championship in 2000, received numerous accolades, including the Honda Sports Award for Basketball and the title of Sports Illustrated Women Player of the year. Then, after 13 seasons, after becoming a youth assistant coach at UConn, where you contributed to six national championships, you then joined the helm at Vanderbilt, where you've been since 2021 1. Welcome to the show, coach.
- [07:11]
Shay Ralph
Thank you. Happy to be here, of course.
- [07:14]
Zena Kada
And now, Mikayla, don't worry. We got some things to brag about you as well. As a freshman, you've already made some remarkable strides. We've all been seeing it and cheering you on from home. You're hailing from Somerset, New Jersey, and you had a crazy high school career as well at Rutgers preparatory school, averaging 21 points, almost five rebounds, almost four steals, and 3.4 assists per game. In your senior year, you led your team to a state championship game and you were the Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year, girls basketball player of the year and were in the McDonald's All American game. Dope. And you contributed. That's a big deal. You could be named to the team, but you actually put some points up. So shout out to you. And now, since then, you've joined Vanderbilt and set the NCAA freshman single game scoring record with 55 point performance against Auburn. Whew. Okay, guys, let me catch my breath. We got some stars here on the show. Thank you so much for Joining us. Welcome, Michaela.
- [08:12]
Mikayla Blakes
Thank you.
- [08:12]
Chantel
So, Shea, I think we're gonna start with you. Obviously, Zena kind of just outlined the level of success that you've had at every level of college basketball. And I went back in prep for this interview and watched your introductory press conference at Vanderbilt. And like every reporter does in an introductory press conference, someone asked you about sort of the benchmarks for, for success at Vanderbilt and kind of the timeline for what you wanted to do. And like any well trained coach, you sidestepped that with a very PR Appropriate answer, which is like, we don't have that. You know, we're gonna keep growing and building, which I think is true. But I guess now in hindsight, when you could be a little bit more honest and if I can give you some, like, truth serum, as you look back at the last four years at Vanderbilt, kind of what you've been able to build there, a program that hadn't been as nationally relevant as you believed it could be to get to the NCAA tournament in your third year there, to be competing for top 10 recruits in your third year, like, Mikayla, like, when you got to Nashville, in your mind, where were sort of the checkpoints that you wanted to hit with where the program was at then? Now that in hindsight, I'm not asking you to look ahead at all, but like, in these four years, like, what did you truly believe you could achieve in those first four years?
- [09:25]
Shay Ralph
Yeah, I mean, I think maybe I was. It was me being naive a little bit or young, or just knowing that, you know, success, if you work a certain way and you do things the right way and you have the right kind of people around you, it comes. And so I try real hard, really hard, not to put myself or my team in a box like, hey, these are our goals this year and if we miss on those, then we're failures, you know, or if we, if we reach those and we've made it, I don't think either are true. So we really try, I really try with them and hopefully they pick up on it day to day in focusing on the process of being great. And I think sometimes for, for young players, like, I'm interested to watch her as I'm saying this, because that, that just kind of goes over their heads. We live in a world right now that doesn't really put any emphasis on delayed gratification. Everything needs to happen right now and everything is results oriented. And if we don't achieve that, then we're failures. Or if we don't achieve that, then the grass Is greener on the other side. And now when you, when you talk about the things that are existing in college basketball for us, landscape, nil, transfer, portal. That was not in the conversation when I took this job, you know, so that wasn't in the conversation now. That muddies up the water because you're still trying to teach these kids what it looks like to win and be successful. The goal is always, has always been and will always be to win championships. But you, in order to be a championship team, you have to have championship players and that is skill and talent level. You have to have a certain level of that. But to me it's mindset and it's how you approach your day to day process and the grind that you have, how you approach adversity, how you approach failure, how you approach success, all of those things matter. And right now, as it stands in college basketball, I think that's the most challenging thing for us coaches. Because either way, you know, you're dealing with kids that have either feel like they're, they have arrived or teams or those that are like, well, this is never going to get better. So you know, why should I try? It's a challenge. So we try not to put goals on it. I have a long winding answer to say the goal is to compete for championships. The goal is to be a championship team here. That's sec, that's ncaa, that's Thanksgiving tournament, that's whatever, you know, that's NTE and the Virgin Islands. We want to win championships, we want to win here. But in order to do that, there's a certain way that you have to approach your day to day. And that to me is the more important focus. When we talk to our athletes, when we recruit, this is what we're going to do on the court, this is what we're going to do in the classroom, this is what we're going to do in the community. And if we can get that right, then the other stuff, it won't be as hard, it won't be as difficult and it'll come.
- [12:12]
Zena Kada
I'm happy you brought up the topic of wins because I know sometimes when you look at a team, you talk about certain wins that they've had out on the court, certain programs that they've been able to take down. And it doesn't always translate as the win because maybe it was an ugly win or maybe it was a win in which even though the plan wasn't executed in the same way, I remember when I played there was other wins that we had off the Court wins in practice, a certain player becoming, you know, a more relevant player within the offense scheme or a player being able to finally reach a certain platform that they were trying to reach in terms of their voice or whatever it is, the impact that they were having. I want to ask both of you and Mikayla, I'll start with you. When it comes to wins that you guys have had that aren't necessarily ones that we, the audience see, what are some of the wins that you guys have had this season that have been really excited for you guys as a program?
- [13:00]
Mikayla Blakes
I think definitely everybody stepping up into their role. I think coming into this year, we all never knew like what our role exactly would be until we started playing. And I think we've just came together a little bit and just figured out ourselves a little bit more. And I think that's a win here. And then I think in practice we just always compete and we always try to give thanks to the people who don't really get in the game as well. I think that's a win. Just seeing them out in practice continue to make us better and push us to be better. Because I've seen it on that side as well with my brother and how sometimes it's hard for them to not get gratitude or thanks a lot from the public. So just continuing to tell them like we're thankful for them is like a huge win as well. Because what we're doing, we couldn't do without them.
- [13:37]
Zena Kada
I love that. What about you, coach?
- [13:38]
Shay Ralph
It's a good question. I think the. There's a lot of wins that are happening here that maybe they don't always see on the court. So we challenge him on the court a lot. And in terms of being better teammates, understanding how they can contribute, whether or not they have the ball in their hands. But a win to me this year for us is this building that we're sitting in and the investment that the university has made in not only our program but in our student athletes. When you talk about the Andy United, that's the initiative that our chancellor and our AD have made so that we're elevating everything about our athletic department. We're elevating our facilities, we're elevating our ability to recruit the best student athletes in the world because they can see we have a world class education, world class facilities, and world class competitive nil. You know, those are the things that our university is doing and it's been very recent to show our student athletes, hey, keep working, keep grinding because we have this here for you. You're valued. We're going to be at the forefront of all of these things, and you're going to have all the resources to be great. You just have to do the work day to day. So that, to me, has probably been the biggest win of the year that hasn't come in the win column.
- [14:51]
Zena Kada
That's a huge win in women's basketball as well.
- [14:54]
Shay Ralph
It is. It is.
- [14:55]
Chantel
I love that you talked about process kind of in both of those answers, whether it's the process of building a program, sort of the small wins that you have, but also the process of building a program on the floor. And it's interesting because all you did in your career as a player and as a coach at UConn was win. Like, when you were a player at UConn, you went 132 and 10, two Elite Eights, one national title. When you were at UConn, you won six national titles as an assistant coach. Obviously, you had four seasons in there at Pitt, where you were an assistant. And. And that was really a building process. You went from 6 and 20 in year one to 24 and 11 and a sweet 16 in year four.
- [15:32]
Zena Kada
You guys can't see this, but she's laughing.
- [15:36]
Shay Ralph
I'm looking at Mikayla because we are. We are both. Yeah. And all of that's true. And we were. We were both very poor losers. We're not good at that. And I. I have never been good at that. My family will tell you they don't even like to play board games or anything with me because I just. It's not fun if I'm not winning, you know, And I. And I'm going to win. And then I might cheat a little. To me, even with my daughter, you know, I like high cars. Like, you're not winning. She's six. I'm gonna win. You gotta figure it out. But I think the. The biggest thing for me in high school, we lost. We. I never won a state championship in high school, and we got really far. And I have all of those awards and all of those things, and that was important in terms of my learning and my growth as a basketball player. But I think the main reason that we didn't was because I was a selfish player. And when I went to UConn, they had only won one national championship before that, and they weren't even really in the conversation in terms of, like, daily. You know, this is a program that's the program to beat. It was Tennessee. They had one eight. I think Pat Summit was still there, and they had recruited me, I was like, I don't want to go there. I want to go here and figure it out. Because I need to figure some things out in order for me to get to that next level as a basketball player. I need to figure out some things that'll make me a better basketball player, that don't require me having the ball in my hands all the time. That will make me a better leader, that will challenge me because I'm away from everybody that I know. And so that's what that did for me. Now, when I figured that out and I went to take the job at Pittsburgh, I wanted to learn what it looked like to just lose all the time, you know, like a lot in high school, and we had won a lot at UConn. But if I'm going to be a good coach, what does it feel like when you're not winning? What does that feel like? What does that look like? How do you help your players through that? How do you recruit to that? And how do you build a program that is a winning program when you are, like, down in the dumps when you are the last? I think my first year, we didn't even get invited to the Big east tournament. Now think about that. We finished that season in February. We were so far down the totem pole, we didn't even get invited to the conference tournament. That's how bad we were. But that was probably those two years where we won six games, and I think maybe seven or eight games, nine games, were the two years I learned the most about coaching and about how to build something great. And so that was super valuable. But I haven't always won. And a lot of my winning, especially when I was young, was just. Was selfish. Once I learned to become a better teammate and a better coach, I started understanding how you can impact players on your team and players that you coach to create a winning culture, not just to win games, because that's what we need to do here. And it's not always going to be linear either, right? So we're going to have this, and we've had this already this year. It's going to be up and down, up and down, up and down. And that's why you see only a couple teams that have really had a decade or so of success or a couple decades. Sometimes, you know, it's, oh, they have a good couple years, and then you don't hear about them for three years. They have a good couple years and you only hear about them for three years. I don't want that here I want sustained success, sustained excellence, and that takes time.
- [18:43]
Chantel
That's so interesting, Shay, because I think when. When I think of your career and what you did at UConn, it's sort of like the winning felt like not a given, but like it was UConn, but it wasn't UConn yet. And so, Mikayla, that's sort of like you. Like the decision you made, Shay, to go to UConn, as weird as it sounds now to say, was maybe an uncommon decision for someone at your level. And, Mikayla, for you to choose Vanderbilt at the point that you did is kind of an uncommon decision for someone, a top 10 recruit, to make, potentially over a program that had only made it to the NCAA tournament first round. What went into your decision and what Shay just said resonates with you and your desire to build something in this journey.
- [19:21]
Mikayla Blakes
I think for me, it's just, I'm different. I don't like to do what everybody else does. I like to pave my own path, and that's the way I was brought up with everything. And then just coming here, like, I mean, you see all of Coach Ralph's success and everything here. It was like, why not? I'm in a perfect position to grow someone who's done it before. Everything I want to do, we got this whole new facility. We have an AD who loves us, supports us, and we have a community who loves and supports us as well. And seeing all these other sports thrive here is like an amazing time to be here in Nashville. And I think just for me and myself, I've always sort of been overlooked, I feel, from a lot of people. And I think for me, I love that challenge of people telling me, like, oh, why would you go there? I had a lot of questions from coaches. Why would you go there? And then just want to take the chance to prove to them why I chose here and that I'm different.
- [20:06]
Zena Kada
I'm different. Like, two chains is going through my head. I just love that because it is very rare for top talent to want to build something. And I think in this new era where you see players coming from team usas or coming from these AAU teams and saying, let's go link up together at a school and build something new. You've got the opportunity, especially you alongside a Camille Pierre, to build something brand new and bigger at Vanderbilt. When you think about developing individual talent, I'm going to look at you first, Coach. When you think about developing the individual talent that you can see in Mikayla and you see in Camille, you see around the team, but then also balancing that and prioritizing team cohesion. How has that been, being able to balance those two with this level of talent on your team?
- [20:51]
Shay Ralph
It depends on the day. Yeah, I mean, it's. It's a challenge because we had so many new pieces this year. You know, Makayla coming in and doing what she did. We had some injuries that have changed how we've had to play a little bit. So Sasha Washington going out changed the game a little bit for us because she's our most physical post player and she was one of the better forwards in the country. I think she was on the Cheryl Miller watch list for. Right. Wasn't that right? Yeah, she was on that and she's experienced, so she had already been here. She's a leader on the floor, so missing that piece. And now Camille's having to do some things that she hadn't planned on doing and she's having to get better through that. Mikayla's having to do some things that she didn't plan on doing and she's getting better through that. We've added. We added a couple of grad transfers that have helped a lot. But, you know, when you're here for one year, it can be hard to hit the ground running. It can be hard to hit the ground running. So there's a lot of new things that you work on to make sure that you have team cohesion. But at the end of the day, when you have those new pieces and you're doing those new things, to me, if you can just play a certain way with a mentality of like, all right, this may not be pretty, but we're going to do what we have to do to win.
- [22:00]
Zena Kada
Yeah.
- [22:00]
Shay Ralph
Or you recognize things on the court and you can communicate about that and take advantage of it instead of having to listen and learn in timeouts. If you can figure those things out and practice it in games, then, you know, the rest is really history. The rest just kind of takes care of itself. So that's. That's the hard part right now. When you have a young team and you have young talent and you have new pieces, it's just making sure that they understand basketball is making plays. Basketball is playmaking. It is not. Let's set up a really pretty, like, backdoor play that's going to work once every, you know, eight games, or a play is going to work once every three games. Usually it's what's next? What's the next play? How can we set each other for up for success? How can we defend and rebound so that we can play in the full court for us and get easy buckets and then, you know, the other things will come. And that's really been it for us this year. And we've had moments where we've been really good at that, and then we've had moments where we haven't. And so we're still trying to figure that out towards. Towards the end of the season. But that's the beauty. Also playing in the sec. Like, every time you play a game in the sec, you're going to find something out about yourself. You're going to get exposed and it's going to suck sometimes, and sometimes it's going to be great. But at least you know, this is what I have to work on. This is what we have to get better at, and then you can get to work and do that.
- [23:14]
Zena Kada
Mikayla, bring me back. Because I remember my freshman year when I came in, I was kind of hesitant of stepping on toes. I was like, where do I fit? What do I do? I was not as good as you. Nearly, nearly. So I was taking my comfortable seat on the bench, but I was just trying to make sure that I was doing what I was supposed to do in practice, you know, in the weight room, et cetera. And I'll never forget the moment where I was like, okay, I've made a stride, and for me it was in my sophomore year, but we had to play against Baylor, and my coach was like, xena, you're starting against Brittney Griner. And I was like, oh, I guess we're doing this today. But that was a little.
- [23:52]
Chantel
Do you want to tell them how tall you are first? As before you finish this question.
- [23:55]
Zena Kada
Yeah, I'm a solid six. Solid six. But that's okay.
- [24:00]
Shay Ralph
But the point is that abnormal. So fighting our kids like, you can do this.
- [24:04]
Zena Kada
You can, you can, you can. The point is, though, she did score 30, but it's okay now. I'm just thinking about as a freshman walking in and being confident but also wanting to, you know, find your bearings of where do I fit in and how am I going to help this team. Do you remember the moment that you were like, oh, this is how I'm going to help this team. This is how I'm going to be able to make my mark out on the floor in the weight room with my voice, whatever it is. Like, what was that moment for you?
- [24:34]
Mikayla Blakes
I think I had a similar situation in high school where I was a freshman. I came in, there was like five seniors all supposed to start, and then I coach put me in the starting lineup as a freshman, and that part was scary for me. I really didn't want to step on toes, but it was really just having their support and them talking me through everything, and they saw my work ethic. And I think when I came in here, that's the one thing I wanted to show was my work ethic. I'm dedicated to the game, and I'm really here and really want to win and really want to be the best teammate for them. So I think having the summer with them and just being able to go out and about, not worry. Not worry about school as much, but just be able to go out and shop, just explore Nashville and do all that, that definitely helped. But I think the one time I really realized, like, my potential on this team was probably our scrimmage against Duke. I think that was my first scrimmage. I was scared. I was even telling my roommate, who's a grad chancer, like, I don't know if I want to play. Like, I'm scared. I don't know what to expect. Like, how does it go? But throughout that whole game, they were talking me through everything. They told me, like, you can do it. You can make big shots. And they just continued to keep finding me, continued to give me positivity. And that was a moment where I knew, like, this was a place for me.
- [25:44]
Chantel
Shay, what do you remember about that Duke scrimmage? Like, do you. As she's talking about this right now, did you sense that as well?
- [25:50]
Shay Ralph
Yeah. She was the best player on the floor. She was the best player on the floor. And, you know, we have known the kind of impact that Mikayla was going to have. And most of that is. And she's being really humble, but most of it is just who she is. And we figured that out pretty on early on into the recruiting process. We recruited her for a long time, but she's just built different. So when she says she's different, she is different. She's built different and I'm built different. So I see a lot of myself in her. But she's a way better basketball player than I was. I was just a little bit more physical. I wasn't on the ground as much as she is. But she's a competitor and she wants to win. And I think at times that that can be what motivates her and makes her great, and it can also get in her way when she struggles. So both of those things are true. When we played against Duke in that Scrimmage, she had both of those moments. She had moments where she struggled and she worked through it because I didn't take her out of the game. And I'm not going to. She's going to have to figure it out. We were just talking about that now in practice. You gotta have to figure it out. And then when we needed big shot after big shot at the end of that scrimmage, she made them. And that's what happens if you let kids work through struggle, if they let themselves work through struggle. And it may not just be one game, it may be one month, it may be one year where you're struggling and struggling, struggling. But if you can figure out how to get on the other side of that and you are built like Mikayla, the sky's the limit for her and our team. And you saw that just in that course of the scrimmage. Both of those things happened for her. And now you're seeing the confidence that she plays with through the struggles of, you know, winning, losing some games. That's only going to make her a better basketball player because in the end, she's just built like a winner. So not only is she going to make sure that we win along the way, she's going to become the full potential of a basketball player and a human being that she can be.
- [27:35]
Chantel
Mikayla, it's really obvious just like, watching you two right now. And obviously our podcast listeners aren't going to be able to see this, so I'll paint in the picture for them. But, like, the two of you have a real level of trust and respect and you can see that, I think, as we're talking to you. But obviously you started out as strangers and a coach recruiting a player, and you're going after this top 10 player. And Shay, at that point, what you were, I hate to use the word selling, but what you were selling or what you were showing her about Vanderbilt was still sort of, this is what it can be. And I'm sure, like, this is what it is in terms of academics and what we're. What we've done so far. But in terms of Mikayla, I'd imagine what your goals and your dreams and your aspirations are as a player, like, this is what we can be. And there has to be an immense amount of trust to believe a coach when they're saying, this is what it can be. And I'm curious, as you were getting to know Shay and becoming closer, like, were there certain conversations you had or certain things that she said that resonated with you? That allowed you to trust her. I mean, she's. She's bragged on you a lot, so you can brag on her a little bit. But, like, were there conversations where you left it and you thought, like, I see the vision that this coach has for a place that hasn't had it in a long time?
- [28:45]
Mikayla Blakes
Yeah. I mean, before she recruited me, I had no clue what Vanderbilt was, where it was located, anything like that. So just hearing about it, I was like, okay. But we had a lot of conversations. I'm a really relationship person. I keep my circle close. And if you're in the circle, I really trust you and I know you're looking out for me. And I think when I came on my first visit here, I knew, like, this was the place for me. And it took a while for me to just fully say that to my everybody, because it took a long, long while. It took a long while. But one thing that made Coach Ralph different was she really cared about me. It wasn't just basketball. It was, how's your family doing? How's your brother doing? Let me talk to your parents. Have your brother on this. Zoom. Everything like that. And that was. That's how I knew, like, for me to be successful, I needed a coach who cared about me, not only as basketball, but also as a person as well. And then also having Coach Kevin, we built a good relationship. His parents as well, built a good relationship with us. They would pop up at my games out of nowhere, and it really just showed how much they invested in me. And as you said, coach, coach, success is amazing. Couldn't really script it any better. And I want to be just like that. So why not play for a coach who has done everything that you want to do?
- [29:59]
Zena Kada
I love that. I want to ask you about the game. I got to know about the game. 55 points. 55. 55.
- [30:09]
Shay Ralph
Can I.
- [30:09]
Zena Kada
No, no. We're not going to talk about recent game, the South Carolina game. There you go. We're talking about the 55 point game. Because I got to know as a Hooper what was going through your mind. It's one thing to hit 20, it's one thing to hit 30. You hit 40. Like every shot is hitting. You kind of lose your mind sometimes. A lot of people call it mindless basketball, where you're just going and basketball is happening and your body is happening, but everything is just clicking. What do you remember about what was going through your mind throughout that game? Connecting with your teammates, everyone cheering you on, Just realizing how much output you were having on both Ends of the ball put me there.
- [30:58]
Mikayla Blakes
I mean that game, I just remember my feeling the game before we lost in double overtime and that was really tough for me. I took that one to heart. It was emotional. Yeah, I didn't really feel like talking to people about it and I just came in the office, watched that film back with coach Kevin the whole game and just really wanted to be better for my team in those big moments. And when it came to Auburn, we were down 15, but I think people on that floor and the bench, we had no quit and we really knew like we wanted to pull this out, like we were tired of losing and that this was a game that was winnable for us and we just wanted to do whatever we could. And if it took me scoring 55, then it did that. But I just the feeling of the loss and double overtime for me and feeling like I didn't do enough for my team in that moment. That one really stuck with me in that moment and I just wanted to show my teammates like, hey, you can trust me. I'm going to be make big time shots and big time moments and I'm not going to waver and I want the big moment. So I just really wanted to do that for them.
- [31:54]
Zena Kada
It makes me think of Michael Jordan in the Last dance and I took that personal. That's, that's really great motivation to be able to go out and do that with your team. And then my other question I wanted to ask about is in the sec. Coach, I want to think about your thoughts about like your toughest matchup from the Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt built perspective. But then Mikayla, across the entire season so far in your freshman year, who's been the most fun or the toughest matchup for you as well?
- [32:25]
Shay Ralph
I think, you know, the SEC is interesting challenge for our team because one of the things that they don't love is physicality and you can't hide from that in our conference. You just can't. So every team presents kind of a different level of challenge because we are usually the most undersized team which requires you to fight a little bit harder. And I think that we're starting to figure out if we start by throwing the first punch, then we're in a good spot. But we haven't done that enough, especially recently where we can take control of the game instead of the other way around. When we do that, we are very, very successful because we play a certain way too and we can turn people over, we defend a certain way, we can get out in the open court, we Have a lot of kids that can get to the basket, that can get their own shot. But being able to do that and play as a team can present as a challenge. If we're not playing to our identity, which is being able to get out in the open court, defending, getting stops, rebounding the ball, and when you don't love physicality in the sec, you're going to be in trouble a little bit on the backboard and defensively if you're not careful. So I think every team has presented its own level of challenge, but it's made us better. Probably the toughest matchup that I think we've had. It would probably, I think, would be between Ole Miss and Oklahoma, because Reagan Bears just was, you know, I mean, she's. She's like trying to guard a brick wall.
- [33:57]
Zena Kada
Yeah.
- [33:58]
Shay Ralph
And I think I needed two more players on the court, and she just had a really great game. She uses her body really well. There was a large portion of the game where I thought we did a good job defending, but then they were making open threes, so when you have them making the shots at the clip they were making and her playing the way she was inside, especially in the second half, they were tough, but we. We were right there. And then Ole Miss, they just. They out physicaled us from start to finish. And that sucks to say, but it's the truth. And I think if you. If we can learn from those moments, even right now, we can be better because you can make the choice to do that.
- [34:35]
Zena Kada
Right.
- [34:35]
Shay Ralph
That's not. That's not a skill. That's just. I'm going to be this because I want to win the basketball game, and we need to have five players on the floor night in and night out that embrace that when you play in this conference.
- [34:47]
Zena Kada
That's how I got recruited, being very physical. Now, Michaela, coach gave you a lot of time.
- [34:53]
Shay Ralph
I did.
- [34:54]
Zena Kada
She gave you. She brought you.
- [34:55]
Mikayla Blakes
Yeah, right.
- [34:56]
Zena Kada
She bought you a lot of time. Now you got to think about it. Who's been your most fun matchup? Your most toughest matchup?
- [35:02]
Mikayla Blakes
I think just being at LSU was really fun and just being able to go against, like, a legendary coach as well and be in their atmosphere. That was a fun matchup. You said the toughest matchup was in your next one. Okay.
- [35:14]
Zena Kada
And LSU was fun for us, too, by the way, so thank you for putting on a great show for us.
- [35:19]
Shay Ralph
That was great.
- [35:20]
Mikayla Blakes
That one was probably my toughest matchup as well there, too. First time in an away game with an environment like that. With a home crowd like that, definitely had a couple nerves and prevented me from performing the way I wanted to. But they were just all straight hitters out there. They. They all made big plays when they needed to. And that's probably the toughest, tougher one for me.
- [35:39]
Shay Ralph
Yeah, it's a hard question because every. Every game we play is tough, right? Yeah, every game you play in our conference is tough.
- [35:46]
Zena Kada
Good old sec. No, that makes sense.
- [35:48]
Chantel
So, Shay, last week we actually had Gino Auriemma on the show, and it was interesting talking to him about the difference between building and maintaining a program and sort of the inherent struggles in both of those things, but also sort of the joys and, you know, when you're building, sort of the wins feel even bigger. And when you're maintaining, obviously the winning happens more. So there's pros and cons of each of this, right? You're at a different place in your career, obviously, but you've experienced, like I said, so much winning in your career. But another thing he said was that in his career, he's basically women's college basketball. Being a coach has been like going from being on a tricycle to flying a jet plane. Just with all of the changes where you are right now, though, like you said Vanderbilt from when you got to Vanderbilt four years ago to now, like, everything has changed. Nil the transfer portal Rev Share. The SEC changed last year with Texas and Oklahoma coming in. Like, how do you sort of process the last four years just as a college basketball coach and thinking about the game that you played as a player versus the game that you coach now when Mikayla's in a similar situation, like, you were a freshman in college once. Like, how do you process? Like, does it sort of feel like you went from a tricycle to a jet plane, but in a much shorter amount of time just because of how much the game has changed in the last four or five years.
- [37:01]
Zena Kada
Does.
- [37:02]
Shay Ralph
It's a good way to describe it the way that he did, but there's not really much you can do about that. So I try not to get caught up in the things I can't control. And the landscape is unmanageable for coaches right now. And that's why you see a lot of older coaches, I think, wanting to get out. And, you know, I've talked to Coach Arya about that a lot because our jobs, as much as it is to win and create that winning culture, that winning tradition, and that's why I came here, and that's what I'm going to do. It Becomes a lot more difficult now because there are no guardrails, because of all the things that exist. You know, it's harder to teach kids how to overcome adversity because the door is always open, right? Like, hey, you know, I don't like how you talk to me. I'm going to go over here. These people are offering me more money or X, Y, and Z. So it has changed in that way because I remember as a freshman, I remember wanting to leave UConn every day. I wanted to leave every day. I'm like, what I get myself into, and. And we didn't have cell phones, so I'm just going to date myself now. We had. Don't laugh. We didn't. We had a phone in our dorm room with, like, an answering machine. But, like, every other day, my roommate was going to be the one that used that. So when I got home from practice, I had to wait in the payphone line to call my mom. And I would be in that line, like, I'm going to call her and tell her to come pick me up. I can't do this anymore. I can't do it anymore. And then by the time I got to the front, I calmed myself down. And my mom's like, how you doing? I'm like, I'm great. How are you? You know, And. And you start to understand how to manage those feelings, because if you don't, when you leave college and you go into the workforce or you join, you know, you create your family and you run up against really tough obstacles, you're not going to figure out how to work through it. So I remember, as a freshman, really struggling. I remember failing a lot. I remember sitting on the bench a lot and failing. And I had never experience that, and I didn't want to experience it, but I didn't have a choice. And that's the difference now for coaches is that any of your kids, if they want to, they feel like they have a choice. They feel like they have the upper hand. And I think for us, as we navigate this landscape, the biggest thing for me is just to focus on what I'm really good at and to be genuine and honest and all right, I'm good at building relationships because if I don't care about my players, I can't coach them the way that they deserve to be coached. And they're not going to learn as much as they can if I don't care about them. And in those moments, if they know I care about them, then they're not going to be as Apt to be like, well, I'm out, or screw it, you know, depending on what the day is or what the situation is. So I have to lean on, hey, this is who I am. It's not. It's not a sell in the process. It is who I am. It is how we're going to build this. I have seen it done before, and I have a really good blueprint to do it now. It's finding the right kids like Michaela, who also are built that way, who understand all the things that they need to understand to be great when it's time to be great in the moments that it's a struggle, as they're finding their true potential to greatness, like, all of that matters. And so the landscape is what it is. I can't control it. But you know what we do have? The last thing I'll say, we have an amazing ad, an amazing ad, an amazing chancellor. We have opportunity at Vanderbilt in terms of resources that I don't think many other people have, if any, and leadership. And so in those moments where it's tough, I remind our players of that. I remind myself of that, and we forge ahead.
- [40:25]
Chantel
Mikayla, I'm sure you've had tough moments at times this year. Obviously, we've talked a lot about the highlights that you've had, but any freshman, you know, it's sort of like that welcome to college basketball moment. I'm sure you had one. If it's memorable, you can let us know. If you want to forget about it forever, don't worry about it. But like you said, you're different, and you came to Vanderbilt to do something different since you arrived on campus. What is something you've learned about yourself through this process that you've navigated? Like Shay said, the ups and downs of any season, but especially your freshman season.
- [40:55]
Mikayla Blakes
Yeah, I think I learned how to be mature and be more independent. I think at home, I would run to my parents so quick with anything, run to my friends, anything like that. And I think that's part of the reason why I chose here, too. It was like the perfect distance away from home. My parents could still come to every game. And I also have time to, like, be myself, live by myself. And I remember I did have a lot of homesickness. I was crying a lot the first month. A lot of FaceTime calls, everything like that, and my parents writing me notes. But I think for me, it was just to mature and learn about myself and learn a lot of things that I've been hiding because I've had My parents by my side my whole life and my brother. And I think I definitely learned a lot about also getting outside of my comfort zone, too.
- [41:40]
Chantel
So you said your parents wrote you notes?
- [41:42]
Mikayla Blakes
Yeah, they did. I have. I still have the box. It's when you have a tough day, when you have a good day, when you have a game that didn't go your way, everything like that, when you're feeling homesick, I just open a card and it's just a good reminder for me.
- [41:56]
Chantel
Have your parents always sort of had that ability to, like, speak that kind of truth that you need to hear in the moment?
- [42:01]
Mikayla Blakes
Yeah, even though I don't like it. We've had a lot of arguments in the car and stuff with that. But, yeah, one thing my, my parents is they're going to tell me the truth. They're going to be behind me 100%. And also having a brother who's gone through his journey was a little bit different, but going through college and everything like that, they sort of know, like, the right route to go for me.
- [42:21]
Shay Ralph
Good thing, too, when you. These are really good questions for Mikayla, and the interesting part for her to be able to speak so intelligently about it now is that she's still in the midst of it. Like, we're probably in the toughest part of the year right now for her. And so she's answering these questions, but I think she's probably still figuring some of that out and learning about what it looks like and feels like to go through really, really, really hard moments. And you know that when you go to college, you understand that it's going to be hard. But anybody that's played college basketball and wants to win at a high level and is a capable basketball player in terms of, like, the things that she's doing now or the things that I was able to do, you don't realize how hard it's going to be until you're in it. And it is hard, hard, hard. And that's any player that wants to be great because you're going to struggle to some degree. She's still figuring that out right now. But what's impressive to me about that is that she still comes out and works and has a great attitude and impacts the game in a positive way. Whether or not she scores 55 points. She's so hard on herself. She gets in her own way, but she's able to work through that on the basketball court. And what I've learned about becoming a great player is if you want to learn and you want to Be great. Most of that is playing right now in the sec. She's playing, she's on the court, and she's. We're just talking to practice. I want to give me a sub. I'm like, you're not getting a sub. You're not going to figure anything out over here. There may be days where you have to sit out of practice and you can figure it out, but while you can play, you're going to get out there and you're going to figure it out, because that's going to make you better. And that's right now. And probably the moment for a lot of teams. Right? A lot of people are. It's late February, ups and downs of the year, bodies are sore, minds are crazy because we're in school and we're traveling and we're missing stuff. And this is when you really figure out what you're made of, what you need to do to get better and how you can continue to improve so you can reach your goals.
- [44:16]
Chantel
I feel like that's. That's the perfect encapsulation, because why I love these podcasts and why I love what I do is it's, you know, we're capturing a moment in time that three years from now, we could ask Mikayla and we could ask you all of these exact same questions, and the answers will be completely different. Heck, a year from now, probably the answers will be completely different. You know, and thankfully for Michaela, you had FaceTime instead of waiting for, like, a rotary phone call. All right, it was still a. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But I wanted to ask you, I want to end the interview asking you, actually, about another great player, someone who. Who played through struggles to achieve greatness. Literally, as. As we were sitting, waiting for this interview, Diana Taurasi announced that she's retiring from the wnba. I don't know if you knew that or not.
- [45:01]
Shay Ralph
I did not know that. I did not know that.
- [45:03]
Chantel
It's always interesting when I break news to coaches and players, but you guys obviously played together for a year at UConn, won a national championship together her freshman season, your fifth year season. So sort of on both ends of the spectrum. But she was in a similar place where Mikayla is now sort of that freshman year, learning how to play through it all. Does the story stick out to you at all about Diana as a freshman when you guys were playing together? I guess one that you can share on the podcast.
- [45:29]
Shay Ralph
Yeah, I was about to say one that I can share.
- [45:31]
Chantel
Maybe you can share, too. One that's about basketball and one that's not. But yeah, like reflecting on her career, especially where it is now, thinking back to 2000, is there anything that stands out to you about Dee's career?
- [45:43]
Shay Ralph
Diana was one of the most confident players I ever played with and ever. I mean, played with coach because I worked with her when she was on the Olympic team, she would come back and train with me. She was really, really, really confident. You could not get under her skin. And that was right away as a freshman. Now as a fifth year senior. That's kind of annoying to have a kid. It was. You know, I loved playing basketball with her, but she thought she was right about everything. I remember the story, I'll say about off the court. We were on a bus ride to play Rutgers. Actually, we were going to play Rutgers. And she was listening to her. Her music and singing a song at the top of her lungs. And some of us were trying to study, some of us were trying to read, some of us were trying to have a conversation. And she wouldn't shut up. And so it's really loud. Everyone's looking at the back of the bus. So I'm a captain, so I walk back there and I tap her and I'm like, yo, you have to be more quiet. You can listen to your music, but it's too loud. She was like, all right. And I was like, okay. She kept doing it. So myself and three other captains went back there after about five or ten minutes, took her and locked her in the bus bathroom for the rest of the drive. She was like, maybe an hour. And I said, listen, I told you. And we don't really take no for an answer. Like, you need to be respectful of what we're asking you to do because that's how it's going to be all the time here. So make sure that you listen to us, because if you don't, there's a price to pay. She's like, come on, guys, let me out. I'm like, nope. You can sit there on the toilet, you can sing all you want now, but you're not coming back out here with us. But it just. She was very headstrong and stubborn, and that's what made her a great player too. Because as she got older and grew into her maturity and became a really good leader, she was able to help navigate those situations on the court that can feel a little hectic for younger kids. She was always a player that wanted the ball in her hands. She was not a good defender. And early on in her career, she didn't know how to impact winning. At least with us, when she wasn't making shots, that was the only time she got down on herself. When she wasn't making shots was tough, but she won a lot of games for us, even as a freshman, similar to how Mikayla is, because she was built differently. She was the only player that I ever remember that could talk back to Coach Arima. The two Italians would just go back and forth at each other and we would look at. Look at each other like, oh, she's gonna get it. Let's wait and see what happens. And nothing would happen to her. And we'd be like, me especially, because if I said boo, he would like, nah, get on the line. You're kicked out of practice, you know. But not Diana. She was the only one. And we called. There was always one person on the team. So Diana was precious. We called. Yeah, every. There was one person would be nicknamed precious because you could, you know, Coach Ariana would never mess with him. And that was Diana, probably her whole career, but at least her freshman year.
- [48:34]
Chantel
Do you remember the first time she talked back to him? Like, were you guys all sitting there being like, oh, she's about to run? And then we weren't sure.
- [48:40]
Shay Ralph
I do remember, because both of them were so sarcastic. So she said something, but we were like, well, I didn't hear what she said. And then I see him saying something back to her and then he chuckles. And then she turns around and I'm like, that was weird. Because the way she said it was. I was like, that's not okay. You don't. You're not going to say it like that to a coach. But with Diana and Coach rm, I think because they were built so similarly and they were both so sarcastic that it just worked. But we knew none of us, none of the other would even try that. We were not going to try it. But again, Diana just had a certain level of confidence and in a lot of ways, on and off the basketball court. That's what made her great. You know, she also was the highest IQ player that I've ever played with. She was super smart, and she had to be. When she came to college, she was a little bit chubby, you know, and she had to get in great shape, like all of us.
- [49:32]
Chantel
I mean, yeah, she calls it her baby fat baller days.
- [49:34]
Shay Ralph
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we, you know, she. So she. She had to be super smart to be effective before she got in great shape. And. And that served her really well. She was definitely. I mean, probably one of my favorite players that I ever played with.
- [49:49]
Chantel
Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for your time today.
- [49:52]
Mikayla Blakes
Thank you.
- [49:53]
Shay Ralph
Thank you. It's so good to see you.
- [49:54]
Zena Kada
Appreciate you guys joining us.
- [49:55]
Shay Ralph
It was very nice to meet you.
- [49:57]
Zena Kada
Nice to meet you too. I'll be cheering from afar.
- [49:59]
Shay Ralph
Thank you.
- [50:00]
Zena Kada
Man, what a dope conversation. Always so cool to not only pick the minds of just amazing coaches but also phenomenal players like young talent that we're going to get to see. Just continue to shoot up and rise through the ranks. Mikayla Blakes obviously being one of those names. Thank you so much to those two and to Chantel being my road dog in this interview. And of course, thank you to you guys. We are always appreciative of your support and your listenership. Always encouraging you to keep watching, keep listening, keep learning and keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to keep growing it. Until next time.
- [50:45]
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Mikayla Blakes
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- [52:15]
Chantel
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- [52:19]
Shay Ralph
We love getting to talk to experts.
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Liquid IV Host
We love having meaningful conversations, just the two of us.
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Sponsor Voice
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Chantel
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Liquid IV Host
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Sponsor Voice
Seven years and we feel very lucky.
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Shay Ralph
That our audience is growing older with us.
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Chantel
So in the spirit of that, we are relaunching our podcast. We are excited to introduce Laugh Lines with Kim and Penn Holderness.
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Sponsor Voice
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Shay Ralph
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Chantel
We hope you'll join us. Search Laugh Lines with Kim and Penn Holderness New episodes every Tuesday.
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Mikayla Blakes
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