Colorado Buffaloes' Jaylyn Sherrod to return for fifth season
Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball guard Jaylyn Sherrod said she'd return for a fifth season.
The double master's degree-earning Alabama native sat down with CBS Colorado sports reporter Eric Christensen to discuss her time at CU and her decision to return.
Christensen: "Why are you coming back for a fifth year?"
Sherrod: "Personally I just feel like we have a lot we can accomplish and I think with the core of the team we have coming back and we're adding good pieces, 'why not run the table and see how far we can get?' We have a lot of unfinished business here and it doesn't feel like it's the end for me."
Sherrod got a first-hand look at where CU hopes to go. After the Buffs' loss in the Sweet 16, she went to the Final 4 as a fan. And she wasn't surprised to see Caitlyn Clark and company author one of the most watched and most exciting women's Final Fours.
"We compete as hard as anybody, and I think that respect is starting to be given," Sherrod said. "This is what we do day in and day out so it's not a surprise to us when it happens but I guess people are tuning in for the first time and watching good basketball and at the end of the day it's good basketball and there are very talented women out here."
Christensen: "You're obviously a very bright, thoughtful young woman, but it takes more than that to graduate in three years as a student-athlete, so how did you pull it off?"
Sherrod: "I think I just found what works for me," said the senior from Birmingham, Alabama. "That's what I would tell anybody, just find what works for you because you have so many different directions you can go in and so many paths you can take. I just found what worked for me and stuck with it, pushed myself and it was difficult and every semester I was like that was my hardest semester but I say that every semester."
Those difficult semesters didn't stop Sherrod from getting not one, but two master's degrees. So it's no surprise she was a guest speaker at a recent breakfast recognizing successful student-athletes.
Christensen: "Was that something you could have envisioned yourself doing four or five years ago or is that something you've grown into?"
Sherrod: "It's definitely something I've grown into. When I first got here I was the kid who sat in the back of the class with a hood on my head because I didn't want to be bothered. I think through basketball, Coach has challenged me to be more vocal and I've grown into my vocal presence."
Christensen: "Jaylyn Sherrod in 2023, if she met Jaylyn Sherrod back in 2018 what would she tell her?"
Sherrod: "I would tell myself to embrace the journey because it goes by fast for one and it's the opportunity of a lifetime."
