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Yale Basketball Player Leaves Team for Glee Club

NEW HAVEN, Conn. ― A Yale basketball player who was expected to play a big role on the team next season has decided to take a year off to sing.

Brandon Sherrod is one of 14 juniors at the school picked to become members of the Whiffenpoofs, the school’s famous male a cappella glee club.

Members spend a year performing all over the world. Sherrod, who says he has never been outside of the United States, says it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. His commitment begins in August.

The 6-foot-6 Sherrod, who averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 rebounds last season, hopes to rejoin the team in 2015, and eventually play pro basketball.

Coach James Jones says he was disappointed with Sherrod’s decision, but recognizes that, at Yale, basketball is not always a student-athlete’s only priority. Yale is an NCAA Division I school, but does not offer sports scholarships.

A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics
American sport has always served as a platform for resistance and has been measured and critiqued by how it responds in critical moments of racial and social crises.
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A New Track: Fostering Diversity and Equity in Athletics