{"id":448067,"date":"2026-02-04T07:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T07:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/448067\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T07:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T07:05:19","slug":"cu-buffs-basketball-player-jaylyn-sherrod-also-an-academic-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/448067\/","title":{"rendered":"CU Buffs basketball player Jaylyn Sherrod also an academic star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaylyn Sherrod put the student in student-athlete.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0University of Colorado Buffaloes\u2019<\/a>\u00a0star guard<\/a> for five years set records on the basketball court before heading to the WNBA after the 2023-2024 season. There, she became part of the New York Liberty\u2019s 2024 championship team as a rookie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Sherrod left some unfinished business in Colorado. She had not completed a master\u2019s degree in criminal justice, a degree she started at CU Denver<\/a> when she received a fifth year of eligibility because of the COVID pandemic.<\/p>\n

She did not give up. Not while playing on a WNBA championship team. Not while hooping for Athletes Unlimited<\/a>, another professional league, in Nashville, Tennessee. Not while traveling in China to play ball overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my M.O.,\u201d Sherrod said. \u201cI don\u2019t like to start anything that I don\u2019t finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Dec. 13, Sherrod, who played the most recent WNBA season for the Minnesota Lynx<\/a>, received her master\u2019s diploma during a graduation ceremony at CU Denver. She was allowed to study there in her fifth year of college basketball because CU\u2019s Boulder campus does not offer a master\u2019s in criminal justice.<\/p>\n

It was Sherrod\u2019s second master\u2019s degree. She earned her first, in organizational leadership, alongside her undergraduate degree in sociology, while playing basketball at the highest levels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During her time with the Buffs, Sherrod was an All-Pac 12 player and an honorable mention All-American while becoming the women\u2019s basketball team\u2019s all-time leader in games started and leading the Buffs to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most basketball fans know about that on-court success<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But athletes like Sherrod often have their academic performance overlooked as their accomplishments in sports receive all the accolades.<\/p>\n

Sherrod credits her mother, Tamika Williams, for the classroom success.<\/p>\n

Williams, who raised Sherrod as a single mother, always placed school work ahead of basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always strict on education,\u201d Williams said.\u00a0 \u201cThat was basically the precursor to her playing. I told her she had to keep her grades up or there was no basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cs were not acceptable in Williams\u2019 household.<\/p>\n

Sherrod never earned a C. Ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"UniversityUniversity of Colorado president Todd Saliman, right, congratulates Jaylyn Sherrod as she receives a master\u2019s degree in criminal justice from the University of Colorado Denver during commencement ceremonies at the Colorado Convention Center on Dec. 13, 2025, in Denver. (Photo By Kathryn Scott\/Special to The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Williams was her high school valedictorian in Alabama. She earned her college degree in chemistry and then received a master\u2019s degree in environmental management.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation was my first concern and first love,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

To hear Sherrod tell it, the basketball player does not enjoy school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that I necessarily like school, but school is something I\u2019m good at,\u201d Sherrod said.<\/p>\n

But Williams doesn\u2019t believe her daughter\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves to say that she doesn\u2019t like school, but I say, \u2018You could\u2019ve fooled me because you\u2019re showing something very different,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Williams tells the story of her daughter playing a high school basketball game and then staying at the gym to watch the boys\u2019 team play from the student section. But while everyone else socialized and cheered, Sherrod had her head in a book, Williams said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d look down there and she\u2019d be doing her homework,\u201d Williams said. \u201cShe didn\u2019t get easily distracted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheila Huss<\/a>, a teaching assistant professor in CU Denver\u2019s criminal justice program, was also surprised to hear Sherrod say she doesn\u2019t enjoy school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have guessed that,\u201d Huss said.<\/p>\n

\"JaylynJaylyn Sherrod (0) of the Colorado Buffaloes runs in transition ahead of Kelsi Mingo (3) of the Boston University Terriers during the fourth quarter of CU\u2019s 85-55 win at the CU Events Center in Boulder on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Huss worked with Sherrod on her capstone project, which examined the use of artificial intelligence in the criminal justice system. Sherrod authored a paper on the topic to help CU Denver\u2019s School of Public Affairs understand what it needs to consider in preparing its students for AI in the workplace, Huss said.<\/p>\n

Sherrod interviewed seven people from different jobs in the criminal justice system about their awareness and use of AI, their ethical concerns and how it might impact their jobs in the future. She then made recommendations for the university\u2019s public affairs department, including collaboration with the computer science department on classes for criminal justice students, integrating case studies into existing courses and creating specific electives in AI for the law enforcement profession, Huss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great capstone,\u201d the professor said.<\/p>\n

And Sherrod did something unusual when she defended her work before a panel, especially for someone who claims she doesn\u2019t enjoy school. She took time to tell the panel how much the project meant to her, Huss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring capstone defenses, that\u2019s not super common,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Huss did not realize she was working with a professional athlete until a few weeks into the fall semester when an associate dean mentioned it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"JaylynJaylyn Sherrod #0 of the New York Liberty is interviewed after a game against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center on June 1, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The New York Liberty defeated the Connecticut Sun 100-52. (Photo by Elsa\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Sherrod\u2019s organization and time management were impressive, Huss said. The criminal justice master\u2019s degree program is online, and the professors accommodate students who are working on the degree while holding full-time jobs. But that doesn\u2019t mean anyone took it easy on Sherrod, who always participated in voluntary class time. She never requested extensions on papers or other coursework.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had to do the work,\u201d Huss said. \u201cI was really, really impressed with her. Jaylyn is a really great model for other people who are busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherrod plans to play professional basketball as long as she can. She thinks about joining the FBI when her basketball career ends.<\/p>\n

During an internship with the Boulder Police Department, she developed a passion for helping police better understand how to help people experiencing a mental health crisis, and thinks that might be something she would like to do, too. The master\u2019s degree would be beneficial for either career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ball won\u2019t bounce forever,\u201d Sherrod said. \u201cI\u2019m not playing basketball forever, so I\u2019ll definitely use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jaylyn Sherrod put the student in student-athlete. The\u00a0University of Colorado Buffaloes\u2019\u00a0star guard for five years set records on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[181,210413,402,185251,18881,18882,210411,29976,1976,4044,2662,3832,1602,9045,20734,97604,1840,526,2765,4142,12097,2558,4381,259,398,3,3858,99,10982,210412,434],"class_list":["post-448067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-auraria","tag-basketball","tag-bluebird-day","tag-boulder","tag-boulder-county","tag-boulder-police-department","tag-buffaloes","tag-college","tag-college-basketball","tag-college-sports","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-buffaloes","tag-colorado-news","tag-covid","tag-cu-buffs-basketball","tag-denver","tag-education","tag-fbi","tag-front-range","tag-higher-education","tag-latest-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-mental-health","tag-ncaa","tag-news","tag-school","tag-sports","tag-university-of-colorado","tag-university-of-colorado-denver","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}