Shea Ralph reveals one piece of advice Geno Auriemma gave her before taking Vanderbilt job

Alicia Jay and Erica L. Ayala are joined by Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph to talk at length about her career, including how this year's Commodores squad has changed her as a coach, how far she thinks they can go in the NCAA Tournament and beyond. Additionally, she opens up about why Mikayla Blakes reminds her of UConn and WNBA great Maya Moore, why she chose to leave UConn and how she's forming her own legacy at Vanderbilt. 0:00 Intro 0:25 What she's looking forward to in this tournament 1:45 Where she’s at in her 6-year Vanderbilt plan 4:40 On teaching her players to be 'kind not nice' 7:10 How this team has built toward the postseason 9:10 The moment she knew this Vanderbilt team was special 11:50 How does Vanderbilt get back to the Final Four? 13:20 Impact that AD Candice Storey Lee has had on the team & Piece of advice from Geno Auriemma taking head coach job 16:20 How she bonded with Mikayla Blakes on building a legacy 19:02 Biggest growth she's seen in Mikayla 19:55 What having back-to-back SEC Freshmen of the Year means for Vanderbilt 20:55 What makes Mikayla built different, like Maya Moore 22:48 How do they retain talent in the NIL age 24:57 How UConn changed her as a player and coach 28:30 How overcoming injuries made her a better coach 31:01 What did it take for her to feel confident stepping into a head coach role? 34:35 How she’s feeling about potential matchup with UConn in the tournament 35:21 Advice coach Shea Ralph would give to player Shea Ralph 35:55 Favorite and least-favorite basketball drill 36:50 Former UConn player that she implicitly trusts with her daughter 37:50 One thing people don’t normally know about Geno Auriemma 39:45 Favorite March Madness memory #WomensBasketball #MarchMadness #WCBB #Vanderbilt #WomensSports #Podcast 🎥 WATCH • Subscribe to this channel: youtube.com/channel/@WNTT • Watch CBS Sports HQ: https://cbssports.com/live • Watch CBS Sports Network on your TV or the CBS Sports App with your cable provider ▶︎ Notable interviews:    • We Need To Talk Now I Interviews   🎧 LISTEN • Stream and follow & leave a 5⭐️ rating on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OsfY4R • Download and follow & leave a 5⭐️ rating on Apple:http://bit.ly/4eoWb0A • Other CBS Sports podcasts: https://cbssports.com/podcast 📱FOLLOW • Twitter:   / weneedtotalk   • Instagram:   / weneedtotalk   • TikTok:   / weneedtotalk   📖 READ • More women’s college basketball news: https://www.cbssports.com/womens-coll... • More NWSL news:https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/nwsl/ • More WNBA news: https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/ 💵BETTING • For everything CBS Sports Betting: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/ • Find the best sportsbooks: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/new... • Get the latest sportsbook promos: https://www.cbssports.com/betting/new... ABOUT THE SHOW Get your weekly sports and culture fix with Alicia Jay and Ashley Nicole Moss. They will cover the top news in sports, with an emphasis on female athletes and women making waves across the industry.