"The world is changing" - Vanderbilt's Shea Ralph invites passionate coaches to join forces with Commodores

The No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores under coach Shea Ralph lost 77–73 to the No. 10 Oregon Ducks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday evening. During her postgame news conference, Ralph gave a passionate speech in favor of students and coaches joining the Commodores due to the accommodative nature of the Vanderbilt administration.

"Coaching is probably much like anything else," she said. "The landscape is gonna change, the world is changing and you just have to have a passion for it and control what you can control, right? So, all the craziness, we don't really have any control over that. You do have control over where you work, for the most part, and the leadership that you work for. And that's why I would say, if you're gonna come to Vanderbilt, then you're in great hands.

As a coach at Vanderbilt, the people that we get to work with, Candace, Tory Lee, our chancellor, are invested in making sure that we're competitive in the landscape and clearing the path for the coaches so we can do our jobs well. Because, at the end of the day, the job is to educate and mentor. And if you're careful and if you put winning at all costs in front of that, then you're not a coach."

Shea Ralph has had an eventful career

Shea Ralph has had an eventful career playing for the UConn Huskies under legendary coach Geno Auriemma, winning a national championship in 2000 before embarking on her WNBA career, which was interrupted by persistent knee injuries. Thus, she was forced to retire in 2003.

She started her coaching career as an assistant for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 2003 to 2008 before returning to her alma mater where she won six national championships as an assistant.

The Vanderbilt Commodores hired Ralph in 2021, and she led them to two NCAA tournaments and a 73-58 overall record culminating in the first-round loss to the Oregon Ducks on Friday evening. During her postgame news conference, she explained the progress that she has made with the Commodores during her tenure.

"Our locker room is struggling a little bit, but my hope is that as people who understand the value of struggle, that [the players] see the growth that they’ve had and that our program has had,” Ralph said.

Ralph is considered one of the best women's basketball coaches for her work in turning the Panthers into a winning program and aiding the Huskies during their most dominant years. Despite the Big Dance loss, she has turned the Commodores into perennial challengers for a place in the NCAA Tournament.