Michaela Blix Timing her jump perfectly, she grabbed the rebound off the front of the rim and sent the ball in with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. Moments later, she was celebrating Vanderbilt’s first win over its rival Tennessee Since 2019.
Then a funny thing happened.
“After the handshake line, I was like, ‘Who is this bald head on the court?’
“Then I approached and said, ‘Wow.’ My father has just arrived at court. Where did he come from?”
Monroe Blakes, a former player and Hall of Famer at Division II St. Michael’s College in Vermont, is usually more reserved by nature. The Blakes are a humble family, and the idea of her father getting past security to storm the court has Michaela riled up. But Monroe couldn’t help himself Sunday when his daughter, the Commodores’ new phenom, scored the game-winning goal in the biggest moment of her college career.
Just like he couldn’t contain his emotions on Saturday either, when Michaela’s older brother got up Stanford protects Jaylen Blixdrove the length of the field at center Dean E. Smith and knocked down a game-winning jumper from the left wing against North Carolina With 0.9 seconds remaining.
Two babies, two beaters in two days, and a delighted father on hand to see them both in person.
‘The word I keep using is ‘amazing’. Congratulations.’ “I’m not sure if that does us justice,” Monroe-Blix said. “I started playing basketball when I was 13, so I’ve been playing it for over 40 years.” …But they both took me to new horizons and new memories that I had not experienced in the past 40 years.
“What are the odds that brother and sister would do (that) back to back?”
Proud father face 🥹
Mikayla Blakes and his brother Jaylen Blakes both hit game-winning shots within 24 hours of each other.#AnchorDown https://t.co/jJZZnnXulp pic.twitter.com/mCSB9OxHe1
– Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) January 19, 2025
Michaela Blix with Recycling by One#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/uCXnEgAiXw
– Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) January 19, 2025
Jaylen, who spent three years in duke Before transferring to Stanford as a graduate student for his final season of eligibility, playing in the Dean Dome was no stranger. He went 2-1 in three starts in Chapel Hill with Duke and dreamed of having a big moment in one of the most iconic stadiums in the sport.
The night before the Stanford trial, Jaylen spent some time thinking about the former Blue Devils Guard Austin Rivers, whose famous game-winning shot against UNC in 2012 still lives on in Duke lore. He also credits Wendell Moore’s game-winning comeback at the Smith Center in 2020 that gave Duke the win over the Tar Heels in overtime.
“This is just something I’ve been dreaming about,” Jaylen said. “And to be able to be there in that moment was something special.”
With Stanford trailing 71-70 with seven seconds remaining, Jaylen got the ball under the Cardinal’s basket. He got the ball right back and streaked it down the left sideline.
“I had a very good defender Seth Trimble. “So I was like, ‘Okay, he’s going to cut me off,'” Jaylen said. “As soon as he interrupted me, I felt his momentum slipping away so I decided to step back and shoot.
“It was unbelievable. It was an unbelievable moment. One thing about when you take that shot is that you’re not the only one taking that shot. Everyone has supported you along the way on that journey.”
From the stands, Monroe felt as if he was watching the play develop in slow motion. It took him a second to comprehend what he had just seen.
He remembers thinking: “That ball went into the net. That ball went into the net.” “This is a game winner.”
In Nashville, Michaela had just gotten out of practice and was watching the game on her cell phone before heading to Memorial Gymnasium to see the Vanderbilt men’s team take on Tennessee later that afternoon. She missed the real-time shot because her stream kept freezing. But when the texts and phone calls started pouring in, she assumed Stanford was the winner and rushed to the locker room to get better service to replay the broadcast.
“I saw he hit the ball and I was so excited,” said Michaela, a former five-star player who leads all freshmen nationally in scoring with 20.2 points per game. “I started FaceTiming with my dad and then I started calling my brother because by then he was already in the locker room. So I was calling my brother’s phone and texting him, and I was so excited.
Jaylen and Michaela Blakes. (Vanderbilt Athletics)
The next day, Monroe flew to Nashville, where his wife, Nikia, joined him for Michaela’s match. The Blakes, who live in New Jersey, made a pact that at least one of them would do everything in his power to participate in each of their children’s games — no small feat, considering that Jaylen and Michaela play on opposite sides of the country.
when Vanderbilt He lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and it became clear the game was going to come to an end, one of Blakes’ friends said the quiet part out loud.
Monroe said: “It was funny, as one of the people who was with us said to us: What if Michaela scored the winning goal?” “I say: ‘No, I don’t think this can happen again twice. This can’t happen.’”
Jaylen, who returned to campus in California, watched the entire game from Stanford’s training room while receiving treatment. He, too, was skeptical that his family could get so lucky in one weekend.
“I was thinking, ‘There’s no way we can win a back-to-back,'” he said. “It came down to the final play.” “I saw a missed corner kick and I got behind it and took it, and when I realized I had it, I ran all over the place,” he said. All over the training room screaming like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ “It was special.”
In the moments after Monroe stormed the court to celebrate, Jaylen FaceTimed his parents to join in on the fun. Michaela later learned from her mother that that moment brought tears to her father’s eyes. By the time Michaela got back to the locker room, she had six missed calls from Jaylen.
“I got the seventh call,” she said.
“I’m lucky to have you as my sister,” Jaylen added. “It’s lucky that he’s her big brother.”
This week, Monroe finally responded to the nearly 100 text messages he received as he continues to ride the high of what Michaela joked might be the best moment of his life.
Of all the times he got up for his kids in the yard or helped Nikiya keep them apart when the singles matches got too competitive, this was a moment the Blakes would never forget.
“One of the things I love about my kids is that they have a very competitive streak,” Monroe said. “They compete against each other but they love each other, and it makes each one of them better. It was just an amazing dynamic — that love and support for each other.”
“They talk all the time, giving advice to each other. I called him after the game when he scored the winning goal and he called it and that’s why I’m very proud. They put in a lot of work and I’m happy for them in that moment.”
(Top photos: Grant Halvorson/Getty Images; Andrew Nellis/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
