Sherrod Having a Freshman Year to Remember

Friday, February 28

Los Angeles, Calif.

9:00 PM

Colorado

UCLA

Photo by: Tim Benko, Benko Photographics

February 27, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

With just two games left in the regular season the CU freshman has made a lasting impact

By: Alex French, Student SID

BOULDER - It is not often that a high schooler from Birmingham, Ala., commits to play their collegiate basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes.

In fact, Colorado freshman point guard Jaylyn Sherrod is truly one of a kind, being the first player in program history from the state of Alabama. It isn't just this distinction, however, that makes Sherrod stand out. Whether she is on the court or in the classroom, Sherrod can't help but separate herself from the pack. If Sherrod is involved, it's showtime.

Sherrod's high school list of accolades is about as long as the trip from Birmingham to Boulder. She helped Ramsay High School to area and regional championships with a 25-5 record as a senior, was a three-time letterman, first-team All-Birmingham, and two-time All-Area selection. A three-star recruit according to ESPN.com, she started to think about where she may take her next step in life. One place that certainly wasn't on her list to start was the Buffaloes.

"I didn't know anything about Colorado," Sherrod said on her prior knowledge of CU. "I knew it was a big-name school but coming from the south we don't hear much about Pac-12 and schools like this. It was actually kind of shocking to me when they reached out."

With a high school career like Sherrod's you would expect schools in her area to come knocking, but this wasn't the case. After an injury-riddled senior season, all Sherrod needed was someone to take a chance on her. Once given an opportunity, she would take care of the rest.

Colorado head coach JR Payne was that person who believed in her. It was that belief and the culture that Payne was building in Boulder that made Sherrod want to be a Buff. It didn't matter that up until getting recruited she wasn't too familiar with Boulder or CU. She had a team that believed in her and that is all she needed.

"They took a chance on me when a lot of schools from the south didn't," Sherrod added about her reasoning behind choosing CU. "They stood by me throughout the whole process. Throughout my whole senior year, when I was having injuries and stuff like that, they kept faith in me and believed that I could be a benefit to the team. I knew they were real, genuine people. They saw me and wanted me."

Although Boulder and Birmingham are relatively similar in size (107,125 and 210,710 people, respectively) and both being a host of a university (UAB), the two towns are quite different. It doesn't take long to realize that things like food, weather and lifestyle in the two places are unalike and making a transition from the two would take an adjustment. Basketball was surely going to stay the same regardless of where she was, but everything else about the Boulder lifestyle would undoubtedly require an adjustment period for the 18-year-old.

"It was an adjustment, and an adjustment that I'm still making," Sherrod continued. "Out here people are way more laid back. The weather, of course, is a big adjustment. I knew it would be very different. Coming out here was something that I needed to have to help grow my diversity and see something different."

There may have been an adjustment for Sherrod when coming to Boulder, but it certainly didn't show up on the basketball court. Sherrod has done nothing but shine for the Buffs on the floor putting up good numbers, not just for a freshman, but for anyone. She is third on the team in minutes, third in scoring, first in assists and first in steals. Sherrod is currently second in the Pac-12 with 142 assists trailing only Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu. Her rookie season will rank amongst the top for CU point guards as she is currently tied for third on CU's freshman assist list with Shelley Sheetz.

Sherrod burst onto the scene, handing out 11 assists in her first game, tied for the most in a Colorado debut. She even garnered Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in December when she led the Buffs to a win over Utah in the Pac-12 opener, recording 19 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds.

Often times this season, the Buffs go as she goes. There was no better example of this than Colorado's overtime loss at No. 6 Stanford. Sherrod pushed the pace for the Buffs with a season-high 21 points and seven assists.

"She's incredible," JR Payne said of Sherrod after the loss at Stanford. "She's a great player, a great teammate, hard-working, selfless and wildly competitive."

Legendary Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer agreed.

"She's [Sherrod] good. She's really good. Very quick. She was hitting her outside shot. They [Colorado] have some excellent players and I think JR [Payne] does a great job with them."

When she is on the floor everyone knows who No. 1 is. She is oftentimes the fastest, most electric and animated player out there. Her confidence and fire get passed along to her teammates, something that is typical of a veteran player, but not a freshman.

"For me, it was always will over skill," Sherrod said about her confidence. "I might not be, on paper, the best player, passer, or shooter, but at the end of the day, if you don't believe in yourself, nobody else will. I always feel like it is important to have the things that make a difference and the things that people don't have. I always knew that was what was going to separate me."

Sherrod draws comparisons to Houston Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook, but there is a different player she admires who may not be as obvious at first glance.

"My favorite player is [Los Angeles Sparks Forward] Candace Parker, which I know is crazy because she is 6-4 and a post player and guard at the same time," said Sherrod on the two-time WNBA MVP. "I love her effort, energy and passion for the game. I have always looked at it and fed off of it."

Although Sherrod is a star in the game of basketball, the sport is just part of the journey to bigger things. When you grow up in the Sherrod household you are a student before a hooper. Jaylyn's mom, Tamika Williams, was the perfect model to show what it takes to succeed in the classroom.

Williams was a valedictorian herself and an honor roll student throughout college. Sherrod followed in those footsteps, boasting a 4.0 GPA in high school along with being a member of the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta, a mathematics honor society.

Sherrod has plans for life after basketball and knows her education is what will get her there. She aspires to be an interrogation specialist for the military, a decision that may become tougher to make if she continues on the basketball path she is currently on.

"You always want to have the best of both worlds if you can," Sherrod said about shining on the court and in the classroom. "I am only a freshman so you can ask me in my senior year, but I don't plan on playing pro. I plan on going into the military. That is where my motivation comes from."

It would be easy for Sherrod to get ahead of herself and imagine all of the things, individually and as a team, that she can accomplish at CU. She is only a freshman who is setting the league on fire and part of a team that has surpassed outside expectations, playing some of the toughest teams in the country down to the wire. Still, she continues to take everything one day at a time, doing all she can to better herself and the team.

"A lot of people ask me about aspirations and goals," Sherrod explained. "I have always been one to be hard on myself. I don't set goals because I expect myself to play to my expectations. I want to be successful and part of a culture that is turning this program around. Right now, it is just about laying the foundation. I want to be able to say, 'I was a part of that effort.' That is my biggest goal right now."

With just two games left in the regular season, it is hard to argue that Sherrod is making a name for herself in Boulder. When it is game time, the cameras are on and all eyes are on her, Sherrod does the only thing she knows to do, shine.

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The Buffs close out the regular season with a pair of games on the road this week. CU opens the trip on Friday at No. 9 UCLA (9 p.m. MT). It will be the second meeting between the two schools this season. UCLA led by 25 in Boulder, before Colorado stormed all the way back to just to fall short by three, 65-62.

The regular season will come to a close against Southern California on Sunday (1 p.m. MT). The Buffs took care of business against the Trojans in the first meeting, securing a 66-53 win over USC in Boulder.