There were times last season when Colorado point guard Jaylyn Sherrod would tell teammate Kindyll Wetta she was coming back for one more year. And, there were times when Sherrod would tell Wetta she wasn’t coming back.

“She was joking with me all throughout last year,” Wetta said. “She was just throwing me for an emotional loop, but I would say I always knew she was gonna come back. I knew deep down.”

This spring, Sherrod announced she would take advantage of the extra year given to all players from the 2020-21 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, she ensured that CU fans will have another season of watching one of the top point guard duos around.

“I can tell you with 100% confidence that I am so incredibly glad that Jaylyn Sherrod came back,” Wetta said. “I love playing with her. I think that we are a dynamic duo in the backcourt. It’s just so fun to play with somebody that has the intensity and the speed and the quickness and just the heart that I do. I would say she’s probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever played with in basketball.”

While Sherrod was a first-team All-Pac-12 performer and the heart of the Buffaloes during their run to the Sweet 16 this past season, Wetta is the perfect complement – and the Buffs wouldn’t be the same without either one of them.

A 5-foot-9 junior who was the Colorado player of the year as a senior at Valor Christian High School in 2021, Wetta has played a major role in CU’s back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Wetta has the ability to be a Pac-12 starter, but has come off the bench for all but one of her 65 career games at CU because of Sherrod being in the lineup. Sherrod returning means that Wetta will likely come off the bench again next year, but that’s of no concern to her.

“To be honest, it doesn’t (bother me),” Wetta said. “I’m here to work my (butt) off and be whatever this team needs me to be. If that means coming off the bench, I’m gonna come off the bench and I’m gonna give 100% and come in and be a spark when they take one of the starters out. I’m just here to be whatever.”

Wetta has played starter-type minutes, averaging 24.6 per game in her career. As a sophomore last season, she averaged 5.4 points, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals while continuing to be a pest on defense.

Wetta made the Pac-12’s All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams in 2022 and could have easily been on the All-Defensive team again this past year. Wetta and Sherrod will be among the top defenders in the conference going into next year.

While Wetta loves playing defense, she’s working this summer on improving offensively.

As a freshman, she struggled with her shot, making 41.9% overall, but only 16.7% from 3-point range and 59.5% from the free throw line. This past season, she increased all of her percentages, to 42.9 overall, 37.8 from the arc and 72.9 from the line.

Wetta is hoping to become a bigger and more reliable scoring threat next season.

“I think probably just looking to score more,” she said of the main area of improvement needed. “I’m a pass-first point guard through and through. I love to pass. But, just looking for myself more often (is important), which will ultimately end up creating more shots for others.”

Early in her freshman year, Wetta passed up a lot of shots, but said she’s “absolutely” more confident in taking shots now.

“I think a lot of that did come with watching more film and being more comfortable with the offense, being very detailed,” she said.

Getting even more comfortable in the offense is the goal this summer.

“There’s shots that are my shots (in the offense),” she said. “I’m just watching more film and sitting down with (coaches) and … really getting more of an understanding of where they would like for me to be contributing this year as far as scoring goes.”

With Wetta and Sherrod being among the eight rotational players back from last year, Wetta is excited about the early work this summer as the Buffs look ahead to next season.

“It’s always fun starting a new season, especially when you’ve had a great previous season,” she said. “You’re kind of riding on a little bit of a high but you also know what you want and where you want to get to. Especially only losing one person last year, it’s fun. Everybody’s back and we’re working hard and we know that standard that we’re going to be setting for each other too, and we love it.”

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