Inside New Jersey native Mikayla Blakes’ unlikely path from the dance studio to college hoops stardom

Vanderbilt sophomore Mikayla Blakes takes a shot against Kentucky on Feb. 22, 2026.
Alan Poizner/For The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mikayla Blakes took in the scene of the 2022 men’s Final Four inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. She was there for her older brother, Jaylen, then a freshman at Duke.