Right after single-handedly bulldozing over SEC rivals LSU, Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes has found herself earning yet another distinction. After competing on the 2025 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team and eventually leading her team to gold in Santiago, Blakes has now won the 2025 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year Award.

The 20-year-old Commodores star was a prominent member of the  2025 USA Women’s AmeriCup Team and marshaled the Americans to gold in Santiago, Chile. Blakes played six of the seven games, averaged a team-high 14.0 points, and added 3.3 rebounds per game. This made a significant difference for the team. Her 27 points, a USA AmeriCup record, in the championship game against Brazil were critical for the United States’ 92-84 win. Courtesy of which, the 20-year-old was named tournament MVP and made the All-Star Five.

Keep in mind, this was her first international outing with Team USA, but she did not cower under the spotlight. Mikayla Blake’s previous involvement with the national team came in the U17 National Team Trials in 2023; she didn’t make the final cut.

Blake’s career has seen her achieve a lot over the years, and this special award would likely serve as a testament to her career coming full circle. Yes, she has a lot of years ahead of her, but these accolades should be accepted as a “Badge of Honor” honoring her exceptional talents on the court.

The Somerset, New Jersey, native, who joined the Commodores as the No. 8 recruit in the Class of 2024, is now standing out as a potential future star in the making. The 5’8″ guard is currently in the third spot in the NCAA rankings, right behind Audi Crooks (408 points) and Hannah Hidalgo (354 points) with 378 points. She can probably do no wrong at this point and seems poised for greatness.

Obviously, the news of her success got the attention of everyone involved, and her fans and well-wishers alike chimed in to congratulate her on this new feat.

Fans Go Gaga Over Mikayla Blakes

This was, in fact along time coming for Blake as her talents were getting recognized by everyone involved. She was named an All-American by multiple outlets, making the second team for the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association, ESPN, the Sporting News, and the Athletic, third team for the Associated Press, and honorable mention for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. The USBWA also bestowed upon her the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year.

And the fans had taken good notice too about her dedication to her craft. “Congratulations! Well deserved!” came in a comment. The 20-year-old truly can be deemed a generational talent, and who else can challenge that? Clearly, a look at her figures would be enough to send a tickle down the spine of a rival college – 20 20-plus point games and five 30-plus point games.

Moreover, with her 53 points, she set the NCAA record for points scored in a single game by a true freshman. But wait, that wasn’t all. This was followed by even more destruction as she pillaged Auburn to make 55 points. Results like this have made her formidable in her

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“Best player in the hemisphere!!,” read another comment. Blakes truly has no competition left in her hemisphere. The SEC falls right within the northern and western hemispheres, but there is nobody to even challenge her here. The only other player who may tend to be a problem if Mikayla falters is Liv McGill for the Gators, who is right behind her in the fourth spot.

With one comment simply calling Blakes “🐐🐐🐐” you just know why they are referring to her as such. Mikayla has kept her game and records so flawless that even conferring the GOAT title on her cannot be disputed anymore. Michigan, Texas A&M, and Mississippi must be spending extra hours in the locker room dissecting her game before they go face-to-face with Vanderbilt’s phenom.