Vanderbilt basketball can’t stop winning this year, as both men’s and women’s programs boast undefeated records and top 20 rankings. Teams have yet to enter conference play, where the SEC remains a dominant field in college sports, but early tests on the court have earned the school national attention over the first two months of college basketball. The men’s team has earned a reputation for fast pace of play, while the women’s team leads with aggressive defense and relies on historic scoring outputs from national superstar Mikayla Blakes. Both teams appeared in the NCAA March Madness tournament last year for the first time since 2012.
Last week both teams won Caribbean tournaments, with the men taking the Marriott Bonvoy Battle 4 Atlantis over St. Mary’s and the women’s team winning the Paradise Jam over Brigham Young University at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The women’s program currently holds a No. 15 national ranking, while the men’s team is ranked at No. 17. New personnel — namely Blakes — and successful NIL dealmaking have helped Vanderbilt usher in a golden era of athletics years in the making under athletic director Candice Storey Lee, a former women’s basketball standout.
Vanderbilt women’s basketball star Mikayla Blakes had one hell of a freshman campaign for the ’Dores. During the 2024-25 season, Blakes was pe…
Coaching contracts are now paying off too. Men’s coach Mark Byington now enters his second year after leading the men’s team back to March Madness for the first time since 2017. Over the summer, Byington brought on Brady Welsh, formerly of the University of Kentucky basketball program and an NBA trainer, to revamp the team’s strength and conditioning program. Women’s coach Shea Ralph, a former all-American guard and assistant coach at the University of Connecticut, has built a powerhouse program with two straight March Madness appearances since joining Vanderbilt in 2021.
In the age of paid college athletes, Vanderbilt’s deep-pocketed Anchor Impact fund has helped attract transfers like Duke Miles, a leading scorer on the men’s team now playing for his fourth school in four years, and women’s newcomer Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, a rebounding guard who reached last year’s Final Four with top-ranked University of Texas.
Blakes broke records last year with high-output games, including a 53-point show over Florida. A scorching first season earned her National Freshman of the Year and a spot on the 2025 All-SEC team. She’s been freed up even more this year with the addition of rookie point guard Aubrey Galvan. With the departures of Iyana Moore and Khamil Pierre to other top-ranked teams — Moore to Notre Dame, Pierre to N.C. State — production has spread across the team this year, helping elevate three-point shooter Justine Pissott and Sacha Washington, who has spent multiple seasons unable to play. On the men’s side, Brentwood native Tyler Tanner, a shorter guard, has also stepped up after a solid rookie season.
After short midseason breaks, Vanderbilt women’s basketball next plays South Florida on Dec. 15. The men’s team faces Central Arkansas on Dec. 13 before a nationally televised showdown against Memphis on Dec. 17.
