Tag: Vanderbilt

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep five-star Mikayla Blakes talks her commitment to Vanderbilt, career goals, and finishing strong senior season

It’s been a couple of weeks since Mikayla Blakes announced her commitment to play college basketball at Vanderbilt University, but we’re just now catching up with her!

The senior from Rutgers Prep, one of the top targets in the nation, had a slew of big college offers, eventually choosing the Commodores over Rutgers, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, Stanford and UCLA, all of whom were amonbher final seven.

Locally, Blakes has been the Central Jersey Sports Radio girls’ basketball Player of the Year the last two seasons, and, to be frank, it would be hard to imagine her not winning a third straight.

But she doesn’t just want to play high-level basketball and turn pro someday. She also wants to be a doctor, possibly working with children in some fashion.

Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko got a chance to talk to Mikayla one-on-one the past Thursday after her Lady Argonauts beat Franklin “on the road” at the Metro Classic at Franklin High School.

Click below to listen:

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s off to Vanderbilt for Rutgers Prep five-star Mikayla Blakes, and it’s not all about basketball

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.

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.