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Michael A. Fletcher
THERE WAS A time when Mikayla Blakes, now an All-American guard for Vanderbilt, used to fall asleep in gyms. The backdrop to her early childhood was the annoying staccato of a dribbling basketball in central New Jersey. It was the rhythm of her older brother’s practice, set by her father. Mikayla, still small enough to vanish inside an oversized hoodie, would often retreat from the incessant squeak of sneakers, and find a quiet corner where she could curl up and doze off until the workout was finally over.
Things have changed quite a bit for Blakes, who after an impressive freshman campaign, has rocketed into a bonafied star this season. The young girl who fell asleep in gyms now takes them over, and is leading a resurgent Commodores squad to new heights.
She is now firmly established in the family business, even if she did catch on late.
Her father, Monroe Blakes, was already an accomplished name, a Hall of Famer both at West Catholic High School in Philadelphia and at Saint Michael’s College, a Division II school in Vermont. Her brother, Jaylen, 22, immediately followed that path, which led to a playing career that took him to Duke, Stanford, and then to pro ball in Israel. Yet, despite the legacy that surrounded Blakes, none of it made the sport feel like her own.
One reason was the all the practices and games she attended didn’t feature any women players. Her earliest models for the sport were the guys who hooped with her dad, and her brother and his peers. «I would go to my brother’s games, and I’d be like, ‘This is a boy sport’,» she says.
Blakes, now 20, had no interest in the family game despite what she and her parents describe as her easy athleticism. She began honing her footwork and coordination in competitive dancing as a toddler, where she won her share of medals but eventually lost interest. She then turned to track, becoming a nationally ranked 800-meter runner at 10 and 11 years old. But the appeal of logging laps faded by the time she was in middle school. «I was like, I want to do something instead of running in circles. Like, I want to do something with the running,» Blakes recalls.
One turning point, she says, is when she met Diamond Miller, now 24, who lived nearby and would go on to star at Maryland and for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. She worked out with Miller a couple of times, which brought her an in-person example of the women’s game.
«I wasn’t fully educated at first,» she explains. «But eventually it came about that I got to see other female hoopers, and especially Diamond.»
«There was a couple of things I said to her. No. 1, you have to tell the track coaches that you’re changing sports. We’re not telling them,» said her mother, Nikkia Miller-Blakes, an IT and telecommunications executive. «The second is that you have to tell us that you’re playing basketball for you. Not because your father played. Not because your brother played.»
Things did not start so smoothly when Blakes decided to make basketball her full-time sport as a middle schooler in Somerset, New Jersey. Part of the challenge was her lack of skill. She might have been a natural athlete, but she was not a natural baller.
«I was very uncoordinated at first,» Blakes says. «Like, really bad.»
Blakes struggled initially, losing the ball in traffic and missing easy jump shots. «I was very much like a perfectionist,» Blakes says. «It would upset me when I missed the shot or turned the ball over. But I just worked on it.»
Her tenacity soon bore fruit. Once she mastered the basics, her quick acceleration, stamina and competitive spirit set her apart.
«She had a passion to play,» her father says. «And with that passion she began to develop her skill.»
Blakes quickly transformed her middle school team into a competitive force, gaining not only victories but also a sense of camaraderie she had not felt in other sports. «With the other sports, I got a little burnt out,» she admits. «But basketball was just joyful. I had a team behind me, and my coach made it fun.»
Her parents supported that growing interest, ferrying her to youth tournaments and guiding her on the demanding AAU circuit, where her potential was immediately apparent.
Hannah Hidalgo, another New Jersey high school standout and current Notre Dame star, Blakes scored 34 points, while Hidalgo finished with 29 in a tightly contested Rutgers Prep loss.
By the end of her high school career, the honors were flowing. She was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, earned spots in the McDonald’s All American, Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit all-star games, and was ranked as the No. 8 recruit in the nation by ESPN.
«One thing I really respect about Mikayla,» Klinger says, «is that the bigger the game, the better she was. People around here kid me. They say I am the only one who ever kept her under 30.»
Coming out of high school, Blakes was recruited by several major programs across the country. Vanderbilt, which has invested more than $300 million since 2021 to upgrade its athletic facilities and performance, stood apart because it offered first-class resources and a warmth Blakes said she felt immediately.
«I feel like this was the perfect spot,» she says.
Audi Crooks and LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, Blakes led Team USA to a gold medal at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in Santiago, Chile. She was named the tournament’s MVP after scoring 27 points in the championship game against Brazil.
This season, Blakes is picking up where she left off. Through 19 games, she is averaging 25 points per contest, while shooting 46 percent from the field for the undefeated Commodores. In early December, she surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark, reaching that milestone faster than any player in program history.
Once a respected program that reached the Final Four in 1993 and made regular NCAA tournament appearances, Vanderbilt spent much of the past dozen years struggling to find footing in the unforgiving SEC.
Over the last two seasons the program has started to show signs of life, nudging its way back into the NCAA tournament. Though both stints were one-and-dones, there were hints that more was on the horizon. This season, the Commodores are off to the best start in their history, making it clear that it is a team no longer grasping for relevance. With Blakes as the team’s hub, Vanderbilt has entered the chat, and the expectations are on the rise.
«Mikayla is a high-impact person; a difference-maker,» says Candice Lee, Vanderbilt’s athletic director. «She is the type of player that will send a signal to other people of her caliber that this is a destination for them.»
Sacha Washington, a graduate student forward who is both a mentor and one of Blakes’ closest friends on the team, joked that on the court she and Blakes seem to reverse roles. While playing, «She’s always like leading me and telling me what I can do better,» Washington says.
Oliver, 24, a 2019 McDonald’s All American, who played at Baylor and Duke before finishing her collegiate career at Vanderbilt last season, said she had never seen a young player with more confidence.
Oliver said Blakes’ ability was obvious from the first time the team played pickup the summer before her freshman season. Blakes was assertive without being abrasive and talked trash without crossing the line. Plus, she was a bucket.
Aubrey Galvan, are filling the gaps and allowing Blakes to play more off the ball. At the same time, the staff is asking her to grow into a more vocal leader. «
She’s already a leader by example,» Ralph says. «It’s easy to follow her because she works so hard. As she becomes more comfortable using her voice, she will be able to impact the team at an even higher level.»
The program is looking for a deeper NCAA tournament run, and Blakes welcomes the moment. She talks about her goals not in terms of repeating what came before, but in terms of staying connected to what first pulled her into basketball to begin with.
«I don’t want to match last year,» she says. «This is a new season. I’m in a different role. There are different teammates. They are capable of a lot. My thing is just bringing that energy, bringing that experience, and not letting my joy for the game get taken away.»
