Eight years removed from her own time as a college basketball player, Chelsea Sherrod still feels a pregame rush.
“Live games, live TV, there’s nothing like it,” said Sherrod, the UConn women’s basketball sideline reporter for SNY. “You can write and you can prepare. Sometimes you just have to know what is happening and go with the flow.”
Sherrod will be an increasingly present figure — inquisitor, informer, entertainer, generally a conduit from program to fan — on TV screens across Connecticut as the Huskies get deeper into Big East play.
Hired in December 2023, she is just over a year into her role as a reporter/host at SportsNet New York (SNY), which has telecast UConn games since 2006. Sherrod, who went to Stratford High and played basketball at Albertus Magnus before graduating in 2016, was named the Huskies’ sideline reporter shortly before the 2023-24 postseason.
The network was done carrying games by that point. But with conference play forming the bulk of UConn’s remaining schedule, Sherrod’s think-on-your-feet role will explore for viewers the how-and-why of Geno Auriemma and his team.
“The story lines can change so quickly,” Sherrod said. “It’s like playing a game. That’s how I prepare. Ahead of my hits, it feels like I’m getting ready for a game. You have little butterflies, you hype yourself up and you’ve got to lock in. It’s so loud in the arena. There’s the music, the bands, the fans, the producers in your ears. And it’s like, OK, let’s do this.”
It’s no surprise that Sherrod, 29, is in a role and a career that is part performative and part investigative and rooted in the sport of her youth. She is the oldest daughter in a Connecticut family well known for its pursuits in athletics and music.
“We’re fortunate to have two really loving parents and they’ve really been our biggest advocates and always allowed us to explore different avenues and pushed us to pursue what we’re most passionate about,” said Brandon Sherrod, Chelsea’s older brother, who is an assistant coach under James Jones with the Yale men’s basketball team. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t give them all the credit.”
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