Rutgers Prep junior Mikayla Blakes (#1, middle) is surrounded by her teammates at mid-court after scoring her 1,000th point against Gill St. Bernard’s on January 24, 2023 in Somerset. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Yes, Mikayla Blakes can do amazing things with the basketball.
But, one day, she may be doing amazing things in the medical profession.
She’d like to be a doctor, her coach Mary Klinger, told us earlier this season. And that was a big reason why, when Blakes announced her college commitment Monday in Rutgers Prep’s gym, surrounded by family, teammates and her coaches, she chose Vanderbilt University.
Blakes is the first five-star girls’ basketball recruit to come out of Somerset County since Diamond Miller of Franklin, who was on the 34-0 team in 2019 that won the Tournament of Champions. Ironically, Blakes’ current team – Rutgers Prep – hasn’t lost to a Skyland Conference opponent since falling to Franklin in the 2019 Somerset County Tournament final.
5⭐️ Mikayla Blakes (no. 10 espnW 💯) has committed to Vanderbilt! #AnchorDown @mikaylablakes | @VandyWBB pic.twitter.com/l5nzViYYaS
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) January 22, 2024
Blakes – the two-time defending Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year – recently narrowed her options down to seven schools, with the other options being Rutgers, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Stanford, and UCLA.
This season, she was named one of three McDonald’s All-American nominees from her team, along with Zahra Alexander and Chloe Escanillas, and is on the midseason watch list for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.
Blakes is ESPNW’s tenth-ranked player in the Class of 2024.
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