Why did Deion Sanders' daughter Shelomi Sanders leave Colorado?
Shelomi Sanders began her college basketball journey by staying close to her father, Deion Sanders, and brothers, Shilo and Shedeur Sanders. She enrolled with the Jackson State Lady Tigers in 2022, where Deion coached the football program. As he transitioned to Colorado last summer, the 5-foot-5 point guard followed by transferring to the Buffaloes.
However, this summer, Shelomi Sanders entered the transfer portal and was recruited by the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. As she joined coach Dawn Thornton’s unit, her unexpected move stunned the college basketball and college football community. It even garnered a bitter response from Deion Sanders, who called Shelomi’s decision to enter the transfer portal "stupid" in a DNVR episode in April.
Why did Shelomi Sanders transfer from Colorado?
After Deion Sanders’ take went viral in the college sports community, Shelomi Sanders addressed her side of the decision in a candid Instagram live session. She claimed that being in Colorado exhausted her mentally and did not challenge her enough to stay.
"I don’t want to say anything too bad," Sanders said. "It just wasn’t good energy. It wasn’t good vibes. There wasn’t enough being poured into me as a player and young lady. If I didn’t leave when I did, I promise you I would’ve quit."
Her mother, Pilar Sanders, also chipped in, sharing details of Shelomi's experience as an athlete. She claimed that due to Deion Sanders' reputation and stature, her daughter did not get a fair chance to experience proper recruiting or to get fairly evaluated as a prospect.
She claimed that despite coaches and D1 basketball programs' interest in her, they never followed because everyone thought the youngster would follow her dad's footsteps to Jackson State.
The Alabama A&M Bulldogs are Shelomi Sanders' third stop in college basketball. She aims to get better opportunities than the previous programs provided her and make an impact from her time under Thornton.
Sanders only played two games with Jackson State, amounting to less than 10 minutes of action in her freshman year. At Colorado, the point guard was part of five contests, limiting her to under two minutes of playtime per game.
With the Bulldogs, Sanders has been part of the rotations for all of their first four games. She logged in her career-high eight minutes against the Kansas City Roos on Nov. 18, scoring her first points of the 2024-25 season.
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