Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt basketball wins Pat Summitt Trophy for coach of the year

[ASFN Admin]

Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt women's basketball won the Pat Summitt Trophy, which is the award for the top coach in Division I women's basketball given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, as announced in a release April 2.

This is the sixth organization to honor Ralph with a national coach of the year award. She also was given the honor by the Naismith Trophy, USBWA, ESPN, Sporting News and The Athletic.


Ralph led Vanderbilt to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament in 2025-26 and qualified for the team's first Sweet 16 since 2009, despite entering the season with only one returning starter. She was named SEC Coach of the Year and also led Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan to be named SEC Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Blakes, the nation's leading scorer, was a consensus All-American.

Ralph has been with the Commodores since 2021 after previously coaching at UConn. She has led Vanderbilt to the last three NCAA tournaments.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Shea Ralph of Vanderbilt basketball wins Pat Summitt Trophy

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