Mikayla blakes The timing jumps perfectly, caught the rebound of the front of the rim and tipped the ball with 0.8 seconds to the left on the stopwatch. A few moments later, she celebrated Vanderbilt’s first victory against her rival Tennessee Since 2019.
Then something funny happened.
“After the handshake line, I said to myself:” Who is this bald head on the field? ” I swear that I have already seen this reaction, ” she said about a fan passionate about Vanderbilt who stormed the court. “I said to myself,” Who is it? ” I know him.
“Then I got closer and said to myself,” Wow. My father has just gone to the court. Where does he come from? “”
Monroe Blakes, a former player and a member of the renowned temple in division II St. Michael’s College du Vermont, is generally more reserved by nature. The Blakes are a humble family and the idea that his father blows security to storm the courtyard made Mikayla crack. But Monroe could not help himself on Sunday when her daughter, the first-year phenomenon of the Commodores, struck the winner of the match in the greatest moment of his university career.
Just as he could not contain his emotions on Saturday either, when Mikayla’s older brother, Stanford guard Jaylen blakesled the length of the court to the Dean E. Smith Center and spilled a stepback rider winner of the left wing against North Carolina With 0.9 seconds remaining.
Two children, two buzzer drummers in two days, an exalted dad at hand to see both in person.
“The word I use is” incredible. Blessed.’ And I don’t know if it does justice, “said Monroe Blakes. “I started playing basketball at the age of 13, so I have been playing it for over 40 years. … But the two took me to new heights and new memories that in my previous 40 years, I had not lived.
“What are the chances that the brother and the sister do consecutive?”
The face of a proud dad 🥹
Mikayla Blakes and her brother Jaylen Blakes both hit winning fire within 24 hours of each other.#Anchordown pic.twitter.com/mcsb9oxhe1
– Vanderbilt WBB (@vandywbb) January 19, 2025
Mikayla Blakes with the replacement by a#Anchordown pic.twitter.com/ucxnegaixw
– Vanderbilt WBB (@vandywbb) January 19, 2025
Jaylen, who spent three years at Duke Before transferring to Stanford as a graduate of his last eligibility season, he was no stranger to play the Dean Dome. He went 2-1 in three games to Chapel Hill with Duke and dreamed of having his own big moment in one of the most famous sites in sport.
At night before Stanford took the court, Jaylen spent some time thinking about the old Blue Devils Goalkeeper Austin Rivers, whose emblematic shot winning against UNC in 2012 still lives in Duke Lore. He also fell to Wendell Moore’s winning hindsight at the Smith Center in 2020 who gave Duke the Tar Heels in overtime.
“It’s just something I dreamed of,” said Jaylen. “And being able to be at that time was something special.”
With Stanford dragging 71-70 with seven seconds remaining, Jaylen made the ball under the Cardinal basket. He obtained the ball to the right and sank the left touch.
“I had a very good defender on me in Trimble Seth. So I said to myself: “Very well, he’s going to cut me”, “said Jaylen.” And as soon as he cut me off, I felt his momentum back so I decided to step back and make The blow.
“It was incredible. It was an incredible moment. One thing about the moment you take this blow, it is not only you who take this blow. Everyone supported you along this trip. »»
According to the stands, Monroe felt like he was looking at the piece to develop in slow motion. It took him a second to understand what he had just seen.
“This ball entered. It has entered, ”he recalls. “He’s the winner of the game.”
In Nashville, Mikayla had just left training and watched the match on her mobile phone before going to the Memorial Gymnasium to see Vanderbilt’s male team face Tennessee later in the afternoon. She missed the time in real time because her stream continued to freeze. But when an influx of SMS and telephone calls began to enter, she presumed that Stanford won and rushed into the locker room for better service to rewind the flow.
“I saw that he struck the blow and I was just above the excited moon,” said Mikayla, an old five-star perspective that directs all first-year students on a national scale by marking at 20.2 points per game. “I started to facilitate my father, then I started calling my brother because at that time, he had already arrived at the locker room. So I just called my brother’s phone and sent him an SMS, so excited. “”
Jaylen and Mikayla Blakes. (Vanderbilt Athletics)
The next day, Monroe flew to Nashville, where his wife Nikkia joined him, for Mikayla’s match. The Blakes, who live in New Jersey, have concluded a pact that at least one of them would do everything that is possible to be in each of their children’s games – not a little feat, considering that Jaylen and Mikayla play on the opposite sides of the country.
When Vander lost a 10 -point lead in the fourth quarter and it has become clear that the game would fall over the course, one of the friends of the Blakes said that the calm part aloud.
“It was funny, someone who was with us told us:” What if Mikayla hits the winner of the match? “” Said Monroe. “I say to myself: ‘No, I don’t think it can happen again twice. It cannot happen. “”
Jaylen, back on campus in California, watched the entire match of the Stanford training room while receiving treatment. He too was doubtful that his family could be so lucky in a weekend.
“I said to myself:” There can be no way to hit both a consecutive winning day. And that resisted the end game, “he said. “I saw the missed lay-up and she dragged it and did it and when I realized that she did it, I ran in the training room, shouting like:” Oh My God, Oh my God. It was special.
In the moments after Monroe stormed the court to celebrate, Jaylen managed to join the pleasure. Mikayla would later learn from her mother that the moment made tears in the eyes of her father. As Mikayla returned to the locker room, she had six missed calls from Jaylen.
“I took over the seventh call,” she said.
“I’m just lucky to have her like my sister,” added Jaylen. “Fortunately to be his big brother.”
This week, Monroe finally responded to some 100 text messages he received when he continues to go to the top of what Mikayla joked could be the best time in his life.
Every time he bounded for his children in the courtyard or Nikkia helped separate them when the head-on-one matches became too competitive, it was a moment that the Blakes family will never forget.
“One of the things I love in my children is that they have a very competitive sequence,” said Monroe. “They compete against each other but love each other, so it makes everyone better. It was just an incredible dynamic – this love and this support from each other.
“They speak all the time, they give each other advice. She called him after the match when he struck his game winner and he called her and that is why I am so proud. They just put a lot of work and I am just happy for them at that time.
(Top Photos: Grant Halverson / Getty Images; Andrew Nelles / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)