PHOENIX, Ariz. — Mikayla Blakes felt a little overwhelmed Wednesday morning.
The sophomore from Vanderbilt looked around the Phoenix Mercury’s practice facility and saw herself surrounded by WNBA players and Olympic gold medalists. In those players — from Brittney Sykes to Sabrina Ionescu — Blakes could see what she wants to be.
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“They were really great, just keeping me calm and talking me through the plays and everything. I’m just really grateful to be here and for the experience,” Blakes said. “Just the plays — I’m really such a perfectionist, I try as much as I can not to mess up on a lot of things.”
Blakes is the youngest player at Team USA camp this week, the third hosted by new head coach Kara Lawson. There’s one more college player on the camp roster this week in JuJu Watkins, but the USC star wasn’t present on Wednesday and will be a limited participant on Friday as she continues to recover from the knee injury she suffered in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
For Blakes, getting invited to camp with the senior national team caps off a tremendous sophomore year for the Commodores’ star. She led the nation in scoring at 27.1 points per game, was voted SEC Player of the Year, was a unanimous First Team All-American selection by USA TODAY Sports, and powered Vanderbilt to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2009.
Vanderbilt, a No. 2 seed in March Madness this season, was upset by Notre Dame last weekend in Fort Worth, Texas. She scored 26 points against the Fighting Irish, but had a crucial turnover in the game’s final moments.
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For Blakes, working out with Team USA has helped her turn the page from a disappointing end to the season.
“It was a really tough day. My performance wasn’t how I wanted it to be, but God gave me another opportunity to play basketball, so I just continued to remain constant, focused and just confident in myself and who I am,” Blakes said. “I really tried not to let that one moment determine my whole season and who I’m going to be.”
The coaches and players at Team USA camp have tried to reinforce Blakes’ confidence and remind her that she belongs here, playing amongst some of the most elite women’s basketball players in the country.
Ionescu, a four-time WNBA All-Star who helped the Americans win the Olympic gold medal in France in 2024, has tried to take Blakes under her wing a bit this week. The former Oregon phenom can identify with some of the emotions Blakes is going through this week.
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“Well, I was her not too long ago. Like, I was in college and got called up to the national team. I just remember how nerve wracking that is, kind of the jitters that you feel. You’re playing against a lot of players who you look up to and have watched for a really long time.
“She’s not on this journey alone, but understanding what an honor it is at her age to be able to do this and compete and just have fun. And I think it’s a testament with all the hard work she’s put in.”
Lawson has seen some of that work up close.
The Duke Blue Devils head coach guided a Team USA squad full of college players to the gold medal in the FIBA AmeriCup last summer, a tournament that Blakes was named the MVP of. The 5-foot-8 guard from New Jersey scored 27 points in the gold medal game and led Team USA in scoring with 14 points per game in the tournament.
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“I’m so proud of her. What she’s growing into, what she’s evolving into, the season that she had, it’s amazing. And then to say yes to this — it takes courage to be here,” Lawson said. “It takes courage to be the only college (player) here. I love this opportunity and this experience for her. She’s bright, she’s talented, she’s motivated, she’s competitive, and she’s obviously a really good basketball player. I want all great things for her.”
When Team USA camp finishes, Blakes plans to spend her offseason studying defenses and working on her shot. While she’s already accomplished a lot in her two years of college basketball — including winning the USBWA’s Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Year award last season — she still wants to get better.
“I’ll be watching a lot of film on how this year went and how teams guarded me,” Blakes said. “I’m going to get a lot more comfortable with that. And just continuing to work on different finishes — mid range, 3s — just refining a lot of things.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes finds her role at first Team USA
