Jaylyn Sherrod put the student in student-athlete.
The University of Colorado Buffaloes’ star guard 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’s 2024 championship team as a rookie.
But Sherrod left some unfinished business in Colorado. She had not finished a master’s degree in criminal justice, a degree she started at CU Denver when she received a fifth year of eligibility because of the COVID pandemic.
She did not give up. Not while playing on a WNBA championship team. Not while hooping for Athletes Unlimited, another professional league, in Nashville, Tennessee. Not while traveling in China to play ball overseas.
“That’s my M.O.,” Sherrod said. “I don’t like to start anything that I don’t finish.”
On Dec. 13, Sherrod, who played the most recent WNBA season for the Minnesota Lynx, received her master’s diploma during a graduation ceremony at CU Denver. She was allowed to study there in her fifth year of college basketball because CU’s Boulder campus does not offer a master’s in criminal justice.
It was Sherrod’s second master’s degree. She earned her first, in organizational leadership, alongside her undergraduate degree in sociology, while playing basketball at the highest levels.
During her time with the Buffs, Sherrod was an All-Pac 12 player and an honorable mention All-American while becoming the women’s basketball team’s all-time leader in games started and leading the Buffs to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.
Most basketball fans know about that on-court success.
But athletes like Sherrod often have their academic performance overlooked as their accomplishments in sports receive all the accolades.
Sherrod credits her mother, Tamika Williams, for the classroom success.
Williams, who raised Sherrod as a single mother, always placed school work ahead of basketball.
“I was always strict on education,” Williams said. “That was basically the precursor to her playing. I told her she had to keep her grades up or there was no basketball.”
Cs were not acceptable in Williams’ household.
Sherrod never earned a C. Ever.
“Thank God,” she said.
Williams was her high school valedictorian in Alabama. She earned her college degree in chemistry and then received a master’s degree in environmental management.
“Education was my first concern and first love,” Williams said.
To hear Sherrod tell it, the basketball player does not enjoy school.
“It’s not that I necessarily like school, but school is something I’m good at,” Sherrod said.
But Williams doesn’t believe her daughter’s statement.
“She loves to say that she doesn’t like school, but I say, ‘You could’ve fooled me because you’re showing something very different,’” she said.
Williams tells the story of her daughter playing a high school basketball game and then staying at the gym to watch the boys’ team play from the student section. But while everyone else socialized and cheered, Sherrod had her head in a book, Williams said.
“You’d look down there and she’d be doing her homework,” Williams said. “She didn’t get easily distracted.”
Sheila Huss, a teaching assistant professor in CU Denver’s criminal justice program, was also surprised to hear Sherrod say she doesn’t enjoy school.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Huss said.
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’s School of Public Affairs understand what it needs to consider in preparing its students for AI in the workplace, Huss said.
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’s 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.
“It was a great capstone,” the professor said.
And Sherrod did something unusual when she defended her work before a panel, especially for someone who claims she doesn’t enjoy school. She took time to tell the panel how much the project meant to her, Huss said.
“During capstone defenses, that’s not super common,” she said.
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.
“I had no idea,” she said.
Sherrod’s organization and time management were impressive, Huss said. The criminal justice master’s degree program is online, and the professors accommodate students who are working on the degree while holding full-time jobs. But that doesn’t mean anyone took it easy on Sherrod, who always participated in voluntary class time. She never requested extensions on papers or other coursework.
“She had to do the work,” Huss said. “I was really, really impressed with her. Jaylyn is a really great model for other people who are busy.”
Sherrod plans to play professional basketball as long as she can. She thinks about joining the FBI when her basketball career ends.
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’s degree would be beneficial for either career path.
“The ball won’t bounce forever,” Sherrod said. “I’m not playing basketball forever, so I’ll definitely use it.”
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