Jaylyn Sherrod and KJ Simpson: Colorado cornerstones and close friends

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Published Feb 9, 2024

Jaylyn Sherrod and KJ Simpson: Colorado cornerstones and close friends

Troy Finnegan • CUSportsReport

Staff Writer

@troyfinnegan

There aren’t too many spots around the country where you get to watch great basketball players night in and night out on both the men’s and women’s side. Colorado is one of those spots.

Jaylyn Sherrod is currently leading the No. 4 Colorado women’s basketball team, which sits at 19-3 and is in the mix to earn a No. 1 seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament. At the very least, the Buffs are very likely to host the opening weekend in Boulder as a top-four seed for the first time since 2002.

On the other side, KJ Simpson has been the steady constant on the Buffs’ men’s basketball team in a sea of moving parts, as a plethora of injuries and inconsistencies have plagued the situation around him. Despite that, the junior point guard is scoring nearly 20 points per game on impressive efficiency while playing all-defense caliber ball on the other end of the floor. Thanks in no small part to Simpson’s stellar play, the Buffs enter the season’s final month with a chance to get to the Big Dance for the first time in his career.

Last week, both Simpson and Sherrod were named to their respective Wooden Award late season watch lists, which recognizes the 20 players who are the frontrunners for college basketball’s prestigious player of the year honor as we get deeper into February.

“It is a blessing. At the end of the day, I’ve put a lot of work into this,” Sherrod said about making the list. “Been through a lot. So it’s very rewarding – I would use the word rewarding more than anything.”

“It’s really special and I’m proud of my hard work,” Simpson said of the honor. “I came back after last season with a fire and a chip on my shoulder after not playing at the end of the year and feeling like people ruled me out, so it kind of feels good to see my hard work pay off, and I know I couldn’t have done it without my teammates putting me in the position that they’ve put me in. So just happy and proud to see it paying off.”

The national recognition throughout this season started for these two last year, when both were recognized by the Pac-12 for their stellar 2022-23 seasons. Despite missing the final five games of the season, Simpson still did enough to earn All-Pac-12 Second Team honors as a sophomore.