Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
Photo by: Casey Paul
Mastering it All
December 19, 2023 | Women's Basketball, Herbst Academic Center
Jaylyn Sherrod navigating life on the court and in the classroom
BOULDER –Colorado point guard Jaylyn Sherrod has been turning heads on the basketball court since arriving in Boulder as a freshman in 2019. But what the graduate student, now in her fifth season at CU, has accomplished outside of basketball has been equally impressive.
The Birmingham, Ala., native, came to Colorado on a mission. To leave CU with a master's degree.
"When I came on my visit, I was like, 'I want to graduate with a master's.'" Sherrod recalled. "At the time, they had a psychology program where you could graduate and then take what you did in your undergrad and go directly into a one-year master's program. That program went away, so I switched over to sociology."
On the court, Sherrod debuted with 11 assists against NJIT and was inserted into the starting lineup just seven games into her freshman season. She earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after a 19-point 11-assist performance at Utah and finished the season as a Pac-12 All-Freshman selection.
Injury struck in her sophomore season limiting the point guard to just 12 games in 2020-21. She battled through hip soreness that required season-ending surgery, but she played a key role in the Buffs' 77-72 win over No. 1 Stanford before going under the knife.
The time away from basketball helped her turn her focus to the classroom as she quickly blew through her undergraduate degree in three years, graduating in May of 2022.
"What actually helped me was the fact that I got injured and had surgery and didn't play that whole semester," Sherrod explained. "I was talking like seven courses and then COVID made everything switch online. Online [classes] turned out to be one of the best things for me. It helped me manage my time better and allowed me to knock out classes in like eight weeks. I just figured out what worked for me and stuck with it. I haven't been in a classroom in like two, or three years. Going online just gave me a lot of freedom in terms of academics."
Sherrod came back from injury her junior season and has started 74 consecutive games, helping lead the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2022 and 2023. All while completing a master's degree in organizational leadership and pursuing a second master's in criminal justice.
"Organizational leadership was more so that I want to coach when I'm done playing," Sherrod noted. "I thought that would give me an insight of just how things work within an organization and how many pieces go into it, looking at performance systems and what makes organizations good – just things that you don't necessarily think about but matter within having a successful organization.
"Criminal justice has always been a passion of mine. I probably would have pursued criminal justice if it was an undergrad here. I've always been interested in the forensic side of things. That gets into my internship [Boulder Police Department] and how much I just enjoy working with the different criminalist, ballistics and fingerprint teams. All that stuff has been interesting. I know a lot of people just think you sit in a lab and run tests all day, but that stuff is really interesting to me."
The drive to excel in the classroom was something that was instilled in Sherrod well before stepping foot on campus. Sherrod's mother, Tamika Williams, was high school valedictorian and has college degrees in chemistry and environmental management.
"My mom has always kind of just pushed me academically," Sherrod added. "It was the expectation like you don't get C's. You don't just do the bare minimum to pass and things like that. I think that was instilled in me growing up a lot. She has always wanted me to have the best of both worlds. At the end of the day, if you got the opportunity to get it done and you don't have to come out of pocket for it, you take advantage of every moment of it."
This season started on a high note for Sherrod and the Buffs, handing the reigning national champions and then No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers a 92-75 loss to start the season. Colorado jumped into the top five in the nation following the win and has been in the top 10 for the last six weeks.
Sherrod passed 500 career assists this season to become just the fourth player in CU history to have 1,000 career points and 500 career assists. She's written her name all over the CU record books, currently third in program history in assists (535), third in assists per game (4.6), ninth in steals per game (1.9), 11th in total steals (222) and 25th in scoring (1,1174).
The No. 8 Buffs still have plenty of basketball left to play this season before the fifth-year guard can put a stamp on her collegiate career. But it comes as no surprise that Sherrod will succeed in whatever comes next.
"Honestly, I just want to accomplish whatever I put my mind to," Sherrod expressed. "I just kind of wanted to put myself in a position to have options and I think I gave myself those options."
Colorado returns to the CU Events Center on Thursday, taking on Northern Colorado at Noon.
The Birmingham, Ala., native, came to Colorado on a mission. To leave CU with a master's degree.
"When I came on my visit, I was like, 'I want to graduate with a master's.'" Sherrod recalled. "At the time, they had a psychology program where you could graduate and then take what you did in your undergrad and go directly into a one-year master's program. That program went away, so I switched over to sociology."
On the court, Sherrod debuted with 11 assists against NJIT and was inserted into the starting lineup just seven games into her freshman season. She earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after a 19-point 11-assist performance at Utah and finished the season as a Pac-12 All-Freshman selection.
Injury struck in her sophomore season limiting the point guard to just 12 games in 2020-21. She battled through hip soreness that required season-ending surgery, but she played a key role in the Buffs' 77-72 win over No. 1 Stanford before going under the knife.
The time away from basketball helped her turn her focus to the classroom as she quickly blew through her undergraduate degree in three years, graduating in May of 2022.
"What actually helped me was the fact that I got injured and had surgery and didn't play that whole semester," Sherrod explained. "I was talking like seven courses and then COVID made everything switch online. Online [classes] turned out to be one of the best things for me. It helped me manage my time better and allowed me to knock out classes in like eight weeks. I just figured out what worked for me and stuck with it. I haven't been in a classroom in like two, or three years. Going online just gave me a lot of freedom in terms of academics."
Sherrod came back from injury her junior season and has started 74 consecutive games, helping lead the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2022 and 2023. All while completing a master's degree in organizational leadership and pursuing a second master's in criminal justice.
"Organizational leadership was more so that I want to coach when I'm done playing," Sherrod noted. "I thought that would give me an insight of just how things work within an organization and how many pieces go into it, looking at performance systems and what makes organizations good – just things that you don't necessarily think about but matter within having a successful organization.
"Criminal justice has always been a passion of mine. I probably would have pursued criminal justice if it was an undergrad here. I've always been interested in the forensic side of things. That gets into my internship [Boulder Police Department] and how much I just enjoy working with the different criminalist, ballistics and fingerprint teams. All that stuff has been interesting. I know a lot of people just think you sit in a lab and run tests all day, but that stuff is really interesting to me."
The drive to excel in the classroom was something that was instilled in Sherrod well before stepping foot on campus. Sherrod's mother, Tamika Williams, was high school valedictorian and has college degrees in chemistry and environmental management.
"My mom has always kind of just pushed me academically," Sherrod added. "It was the expectation like you don't get C's. You don't just do the bare minimum to pass and things like that. I think that was instilled in me growing up a lot. She has always wanted me to have the best of both worlds. At the end of the day, if you got the opportunity to get it done and you don't have to come out of pocket for it, you take advantage of every moment of it."
This season started on a high note for Sherrod and the Buffs, handing the reigning national champions and then No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers a 92-75 loss to start the season. Colorado jumped into the top five in the nation following the win and has been in the top 10 for the last six weeks.
Sherrod passed 500 career assists this season to become just the fourth player in CU history to have 1,000 career points and 500 career assists. She's written her name all over the CU record books, currently third in program history in assists (535), third in assists per game (4.6), ninth in steals per game (1.9), 11th in total steals (222) and 25th in scoring (1,1174).
The No. 8 Buffs still have plenty of basketball left to play this season before the fifth-year guard can put a stamp on her collegiate career. But it comes as no surprise that Sherrod will succeed in whatever comes next.
"Honestly, I just want to accomplish whatever I put my mind to," Sherrod expressed. "I just kind of wanted to put myself in a position to have options and I think I gave myself those options."
Colorado returns to the CU Events Center on Thursday, taking on Northern Colorado at Noon.
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