Meet Chelsea Sherrod, SNY’s UConn women’s basketball sideline reporter with deep Connecticut roots – Graduate of CSB Media Arts Center

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.”

Brandon, the 2010 Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year at Stratford High, played 114 games at Yale in 2011-16, twice making national headlines. Brandon set an NCAA single-season record by making 30 consecutive field goals as a senior forward in 2015-16. He sat out the previous season, opting to travel and perform with the famed Whiffenpoofs, the oldest collegiate a cappella singing group in the world.

“He stayed true to himself, and I appreciate that,” Chelsea said. “I thought it was really inspiring and it was an experience none of us will ever forget. People say he’s a renaissance man. She’s just always been so cool to me.”

Chayla Sherrod, 27, earned her law degree at Penn and is now a lawyer in New York, where the youngest of the four siblings, Chynna Sherrod, 25, lives and works as a singer. Chynna was featured on the show “American Idol” as a 17-year-old high school senior in 2016.

Cassandra and Rick Sherrod were raised in Bridgeport and raised their children there, too, not far from Sacred Heart University, where Chelsea earned a Master’s degree in strategic communications and public relations in 2022. They met as young mail carriers. Forty-years later, Rick still works for the postal service, in a management role, and Cassandra has a long career as a paraprofessional at a school in Bridgeport.

“Our parents didn’t hold us to one career path or experience,” Chelsea said. “They were so open to us experiencing different things.”

Chelsea Sherrod once wanted to be a detective and later considered pursuing a career in law. Instead, she followed her brother into athletics, and identified a passion for communications and TV while at Albertus. Now “B” and “C”, as they refer to each other, are simultaneously occupying different spots on the Connecticut college basketball map.

“A lot of her success has been self-motivation and passion,” said Brandon, in his first year as a Yale assistant. “It’s so incredible, seeing your sister, who you know in a totally different light. That’s a really difficult thing to do, sideline reporting. I’m just so impressed by how poised she is. She always seems to have the right number of breaths, and the right questions to ask. I know talking to Geno isn’t always the easiest thing in the world, but they’ve built a strong rapport and it’s a testament to how easy she makes other people feel around her.”

Brandon helped Yale to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 54 years as a senior in 2016 — and to a first-round upset victory over Baylor, the Bulldogs’ only NCAA victory in program history.

Chelsea, a two-year captain at Albertus, was in the crowd that day in Providence. She had finished her basketball career, averaging 5.9 points and 10.6 rebounds as a junior, and 4.5 points and 6.9 rebounds as a senior, for the Division III Falcons.

Chelsea has torn an ACL four times — the left while playing soccer in eighth grade and again while playing soccer as a high school sophomore, and the right while playing AAU basketball as a high school upperclassman and again while a sophomore at Albertus. These experiences give her unique insight while covering UConn, which has had an unprecedented amount of serious injuries the past three seasons.

“All you can think about is getting back, and there is nothing that can stop it,” Sherrod said of the rehabilitation process. “Media or fans get caught up on, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s happened again,’ and [players] have moved on. All they’re thinking about now is rehab and, ‘What do I do to return?’ My experiences do help with a level of understanding and empathy, and being able to talk to players about their rehab.” 

After Yale, Brandon set out on a professional playing career, first in Italy, later in Finland and Israel, where he had a contract to play again this winter. Brandon received a call from Jones, the Yale coach since 1999, when he was home for a break. And, suddenly, Brandon was a basketball coach instead of a basketball player.

“It wasn’t something I had marked as a potential job opportunity or future career,” Brandon said. “But the chance to work under the same coach who recruited me and coached me, and the same associate head coach [Matt Kingsley] that recruited me and coached me, and [assistant] Justin Simon, who started his coaching career when I came in as a freshman — it was a great way to keep everything in the family and to work on the skills I had honed. In hindsight, I’m really blessed and grateful because I would have been in the middle of a war.”

Brandon has been very active in the Bridgeport, Stratford and New Haven communities over the years, and he has long discussed a long-term goal to be the mayor of Bridgeport.

“He and I have a really special connection through sports, and because we’re so close together in age,” Chelsea said. “We always talk about our careers. He was going back and forth and I really pushed him to take this job at Yale. The year before, he had this lightbulb moment of, ‘I have to start thinking about life after playing.’ I told him this is the perfect opportunity.”

Brandon played seven seasons overseas. Meanwhile, Chelsea went about navigating the sports journalism path. Her first experience came when Kristen DeCarli (then a sports information director, now a professor) asked her to conduct athlete-of-the-month interviews at Albertus.

After graduating, Chelsea completed an eight-week program at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. She made a lot of contacts there, and more through her association with the National Association of Black Journalists. She also returned to Albertus often to record games, stand-ups and interviews with coaches willing to participate. There were many, including women’s basketball coach J.R. Fredette and men’s coach Mitch Oliver.

Sherrod, who interned at WTNH in New Haven while in college, first worked as an operations technician for Fios1 in Rye Brook, N.Y., and as a production assistant for NBC Sports in Stamford. Her first on-screen job was as a weekend sports anchor at WKTV in Utica, N.Y., and she was a reporter/host at NESN for a year and a half before taking the job at SNY.

Now she’s one of the main links to the mind of Auriemma, in his 39^th season.

“I remember the first time I talked to him, I was almost starstruck,” Sherrod said. “We hit it off in our first few interactions. I think based on the questions I was asking he could sense my interest in the game. I really enjoy our conversations. I try to keep them fun and light, and we joke with each other.”

Play-by-play announcer Allen Bestwick and color analyst Meghan Culmo, a former UConn player, form the rest of the team assigned to Huskies’ games. The role as UConn sideline reporter is only a slice of what Sherrod does for SNY. She contributes to “SportsNite,” the station’s catch-all sports summary of the New York market. She has reported rinkside at Rangers and Devils games, done hits at Knicks games and Mets pre- and post-game work. She lives in Harlem, not far from Central Park.  

Sherrod’s UConn sideline reports could be in reaction to anything happening in the game, such as the latest run or injury or substitution pattern. They could also be more of a human interest angle, such as sharing parts of conversations had with Nika Muhl about her parents recently traveling from Croatia to see a game for the first time.

She also interviews Auriemma at halftime as he’s coming off the court. That’s a tricky spot, finite time for a reporter with a coach juggling countless thoughts about what just happened and what changes to make.

“I usually have one question and let Geno answer and, based on his answer, I’ll follow up on what he says or take it in a different direction,” Sherrod said. “Geno makes it very easy. Geno is going to say what he wants to say. It’s so funny. As a sideline reporter a lot of times you’re coming up with a question so you’re leading and they’re following. But in my experience with Geno, yes, I throw him a path with a question, but he almost starts leading with his answer. Sometimes I don’t know what direction he’s going to take it. And then I’ll follow up.”

Brandon isn’t sure what his future holds. Music remains close to his heart. He has attended some concerts where Emir Buyukhanli, a junior guard from Turkey, plays guitar. For fun, Brandon and Buyukhanli rate the national anthem sung before every Yale game. The highest score, as of late December, was 7.5.

Brandon isn’t officially involved with the Whiffenpoofs, and hasn’t seen a concert recently. He did see another a cappella group recently at Mory’s — and got called out by friends to the crowd.

“I’m still navigating whether I see longevity in the coaching profession,” Brandon said. “I have a number of passions that help me feel more well-rounded.”

Chelsea’s ultimate goal is to be a sideline reporter for a national network. She’ll always be able to say she spent a stretch covering an iconic program and a hall of fame coach.

“I feel like I’m coming in on the tail end of his career, though I’m sure he could coach forever,” Sherrod said of Auriemma. “But it’s different now because he doesn’t really have anything to prove at this point. I think that makes it more enjoyable for him, and for us. … I call him the godfather of college basketball — specifically, women’s basketball. Every time I talk to him, I learn something.”

Full article from CT Insider found here:
https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/article/huskies-sny-yale-chelsea-sherrod-18575479.php