Vanderbilt women’s basketball player Mikayla Blakes was named on Mar. 9 to the 2026 Wooden Award Women’s Basketball National Ballot, making her a candidate for both the Wooden All-America Team and the Wooden Award Trophy, which honors the top women’s college basketball player in the country.
Blakes is one of 15 players selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board. Her inclusion means she is eligible for recognition as one of the nation’s best collegiate athletes this season.
Voting for the John R. Wooden Award All-America Team will begin March 16 at 5 a.m. Central Time and close March 28 at 10:59 p.m. Central Time. Voters are expected to consider each candidate’s entire season performance, including games played during the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The announcement of both the Women’s All-America Teams and the top five finalists for the trophy will take place April 4 during the Men’s Final Four.
Blakes has posted standout statistics this season, averaging 27 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.9 steals per game while shooting nearly 46 percent from the field and over 36 percent from three-point range. She led NCAA Division I in scoring with her average and recorded twelve games with more than thirty points—the most by any player nationally this year. In addition to being a finalist for several other major awards, including Naismith Trophy Player of the Year and Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year, Blakes has received multiple honors such as SEC Player of the Year by both league coaches and USA Today.
Her performances in conference play were especially notable; she averaged over thirty points per game in SEC contests and maintained double-digit scoring in every game this season, extending her streak to fifty consecutive games—currently longest in her conference and third-longest nationally.
Blakes also set a school record by earning SEC Player of the Week six times this year, was named AP National Player of the Year three times, and was recognized five times as part of USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week.
