Longtime UConn assistant Ralph tabbed as new Vandy women’s basketball coach
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BVM) — Shea Ralph has known how to win basketball games for a long time. As a standout player and eventual national high school player of the year during her time at Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, N.C., Ralph would join Geno Auriemma’s storied program at the University of Connecticut.
At UConn, Ralph proved she was worth the hype as she would finish her career in the program’s top 10 in assists, steals and field goal percentage, be named first-team All-American and the Honda Award winner as national player of the year in 2000 while leading the Huskies to a national championship that same year. That championship would be the first seven Ralph would enjoy as, following her time as a player at UConn and briefly the WNBA before knee injuries derailed her career, she would spend some time as an assistant coach at University of Pittsburgh before spending the past 13 seasons with the Huskies as an assistant coach starting in 2008.
Ralph hopes to bring her winning ways with her to her next stop as the 43-year-old coach was named the new head coach of the Vanderbilt University women’s basketball team on April 13. This makes Ralph just the sixth head coach in the program’s history.
“The University of Connecticut is a hard place to leave. I’ve completely invested, I played there and I’ve been there a long time as a coach,” Ralph said during her introductory press conference. “What’s intriguing about Vanderbilt, from the outside looking in, you look at this university, all it has going for it, the athletic programs and the excellence they display in everything they do and you wonder why isn’t the women’s basketball team in elite conversations in our country? I think that we can be and I think that we should be and I’m excited to do that here.”
Welcome to West End, Coach!#AnchorDown
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) April 13, 2021
Though it may have been a difficult decision for Ralph to leave the place that started her collegiate basketball journey, it was made easier by her husband Tom Garrick, a former Vanderbilt women’s basketball assistant coach from 2009-15.
“He said two words: ‘No brainer,’” Ralph said. “My husband, if you know him, he doesn’t mince words. He tells me when I’m wrong all the time. He tells me when I make bad decisions and he tells me what he thinks about decisions. But from the very beginning he was fully supportive because he knows and believes in Vanderbilt University and understands what an opportunity this is.”
Though reports have circulated that Garrick, who has been the head women’s basketball coach for UMass-Lowell for the past three seasons, is set to join his wife as an assistant coach, Ralph was mum on the subject during her press conference.
“I did hire him as a full-time caretaker with my daughter right now, [but] no we haven’t made any decisions right now and I’m not ready to talk about that,” Ralph said. “We’re really focused on immersing myself in the community and meeting the team.”
In addition to her experience as a player being a useful coaching tool, Ralph will also have a distinct advantage in recruiting as she got to learn from one of the best recruiters for one of the best programs in the country. During her time with UConn, Ralph helped the Huskies land top prospects like Paige Bueckers, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart. She hopes to bring a similar energy and effort to recruiting at Vanderbilt.
“When I recruit, and this was the same at UConn, we’re looking for excellence on and off the court,” Ralph said. “I don’t think I have to make any changes coming to Vanderbilt. I’m looking for those players who have the drive and relentless effort to be excellent in everything they do. … All the things I know I can’t coach and you need to be great and excellent in what you do to have sustainability in that, that’s what I’m going to recruit.”
Along with her strong recruiting skills, Ralph also has a knack for helping to develop players. During her 13-year tenure at UConn, she coached 21 WNBA draft picks, including nine top-five picks and three No. 1 overall selections.
With all the lessons she has learned as both a player and coach under Auriemma, Ralph will look to turn around a program that has struggled in recent years. The Commodores haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2014, when Garrick was still an assistant coach for the team, and have gone 28-82 against the SEC over the last seven years. In a shortened season last year, the Commodores went 4-4 on the year and 0-3 against conference opponents.
Though the recent past seems a bit bleak, Ralph doesn’t see it as a negative as she has already seen how successful the program can be from teams in the past.
“I’m not really looking at it as a rebuild, more like a revitalization,” Ralph said. “As we’ve talked about before we’ve seen that it can be done here. I’m coming in here thinking that this is going to get done and I’m just excited to be part of it because I just think it’s an amazing opportunity.”
Having a consistent winner like Ralph at the helm can only be beneficial for the Vanderbilt team. She knows it may not come quickly, but she is confident that she will be able to get wins with the Commodores eventually.
“I know that if I want to build something, and we together want to build something great, then we have to trust that process and know it might not be overnight,” Ralph said. “Would I like it to happen sooner than later? Of course and obviously that’s my goal. I don’t like losing at all so I don’t plan to lose a lot. But I understand that sometimes you have to lose a little bit to win.”
As Ralph adjusts to a new university for only the second time in her career, she will do so with a lot of hype around her. If she can even bring a fragment of her winning ways with her to Nashville, the Commodores will be in a good position moving forward.
Home sweet home. 🏡#AnchorDown | @SheaRalph pic.twitter.com/FjueWUO5UO
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) April 13, 2021
