Liberty Player Preview 2025: Jaylyn Sherrod
The trophy is stored, the confetti is cleared, the rings have been sized, and the banner will be raised. Now comes the question: what can the New York Liberty possibly do for an encore?
The Liberty's roster is set for its first postseason championship defense, which gets underway this week as the WNBA prepares to tip off its 29th season. Fresh the famous five-game win over the Minnesota Lynx in last fall's Finals, the Liberty now seek to bring another parade to Manhattan and Brooklyn after ending the long wait for the original.
With the season quickly approaching, New York Liberty on SI will go through each player's 2025 outlook on a case-by-case basis.
(Players will be listed in numerical order)
Player: Jaylyn Sherrod
Height/Position: 5-7, Guard
From: Colorado
Experience: 2nd season
2024 Stats: 1.9 points, 50 percent FG
How Acquired: Undrafted Free Agent in 2024
The Story So Far
Standing at 5-7 and going uncalled at the 2024 WNBA Draft, the former Buffalo Sherrod faced an uphill battle to reach any WNBA roster, much less that of the defending finalists looking to take that last step. But the Birmingham native took advantage of her extended opportunities in the preseason and eventually created some tough decisions at the end of training camp.
Salary cap restrictions led to Sherrod's departure at the end of the mid-spring process but she found her way back to Brooklyn when the financial restrictions loosened. Sherrod originally stuck around in New York on a series of seven-day deals but eventually landed herself a rest-of-season signing after the break. She wound up being the only in-season addition for New York and stuck around for the championship run.
Sherrod appeared in 10 games and played but 37 minutes in a Liberty uniform, with most of that time coming when outcomes were well in hand. But her legend, kept alive by an expansive cult following, carried on into the regular season and her entries always drew strong cheers from the seafoam faithful.
The 22-year-old's most potent taste of the big time came in an August win over Dallas, which saw her play just under 10 minutes on a night where Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton were unavailable. Sherrod peppered her box score with two assists, and a field goal, block, rebound, and steal each to the delight of the Barclays Center crowd.
That and more was enough to earn her another camp invite, as well as some attention from the Athletes Unlimited league in Nashville. An aggressive, energetic preseason (15 points, 5 steals, plus-12.3 net rating in two games) helped earn Sherrod the Liberty's final roster in a tight battle that also featured fellow 2024 arrival Esmery Martinez and Leaonna Odom, a 2020 seafoam draftee returning to action after three years away from the game.
They Said It
"Me and Jaylyn have had a cool relationship to that dynamic of making sure that I'm being a better point guard to her, and likewise, she could be a point guard to me. I think it's a really cool bond that we're creating. I love the way Jaylyn plays. I know people will call her undersized, but that's a tough one." - Natasha Cloud
"Jaylyn is going to give that energy that we need. I know when it gets tough, she's going to be able to really direct this offensively ... she's a great energy giver." - Kennedy Burke
2025 Outlook
Sherrod's story is energetic enough and its the type of mental power that the Liberty need to at least partly make up for the loss of Kayla Thornton to the Bay Area expansion draft. Sherrod has the championship of a personal variety to protect this time around: last season saw her prove that she could hang with the premier women of the W. Her repeat will come, if and when she generates a sense of longevity.
Things will likely start slow, as the Liberty look to incorporate returners like Rebekah Gardner and Marine Johannes, both of whom come back after lengthy absences from WNBA hardwood.
While Sherrod still figures to stand among the latter part of the Liberty bench, a grand opportunity potentially awaits next month. Leonie Fiebich is the talk of the town after her own (WNBA) freshman breakout and Johannes is back in Brooklyn after last year's French sabbatical. Both, however, will be departing for at least two weeks to rep their respective nations in this year's EuroBasket showdown. That could move Sherrod up the depth chart, if only temporarily, and give her a chance to prove her lasting worth to not just the Liberty but the WNBA as a whole.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.