5-Star recruit Mikayla Blakes committed to Vanderbilt on Monday afternoon. Blakes — the No. 10 recruit from the Class of 2024 — picked Vanderbilt over No. 5 UCLA, No. 8 Stanford, No. 16 Indiana, Tennessee, Rutgers and Wisconsin. Blakes is the younger sister of Duke guard Jaylen Blakes.
The Commodores currently sit at 17-3 and are fourth in the SEC standings. Blakes will look to join a Vanderbilt women’s basketball program that has gone through a culture shift under head coach Shea Ralph.
Blakes is a senior at Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, N.J. Blakes has dominated the high school basketball circuit this season, tallying 19.6 points per game, 1.5 steals per game and a 47.1% shooting percentage from the field across 17 total games played. Before the 2023-24, Blakes had already tallied 1,370 points and 247 points through three seasons at Rutgers Prep. On Saturday, the point guard notched 33 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in Rutgers Prep’s 89-62 win over Montclair Immaculate.
Blakes will likely fill in the shoes of sixth-year point guard Jordyn Cambridge next season. Cambridge has been a consummate professional since coming to West End and leads Vanderbilt with 14.2 points per game. Blakes will look to help Ralph and the Commodores next season win their first SEC Tournament since 2009.
