Commitments are one thing, signing the dotted line is the real thing. This week Shelomi Sanders, the daughter of Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders, signed her letter of intent to play basketball at JSU.
The signing will bring three of Sanders’ children to Jackson as student athletes. Shelomi will play for Coach Tomekia Reed while sons Shedeur and Shilo are already on the football team.
Shelomi signed her paperwork on Wednesday at Rockwall-Heath High School in Heath, Texas. The 5’7″ shooting guard committed to Jackson State in February.
A family affair
The soon to be Tiger thanked her brothers and father in an Instagram post after the signing.
“I appreciate my brothers – @shedeursanders & @shilosanders for being very hard on me allowing myself to lock in and strive to be the best even though I wanted to fight them half of the time also thank u dad- @deionsanders for praying with me before my games & literally rolling into my them this season you know with your foot and all,” she wrote in part.
The women’s basketball team is currently riding a huge wave of momentum right now. After going unbeaten in the SWAC last season, the Lady Tigers led LSU by double digits in the NCAA Tournament before losing a close game. Ameshya Williams-Holliday became the first player in school history to be drafted into the WNBA on Monday. She was the first HBCU player drafted in two decades.
Sanders averaged 16 points per game to go along with six rebounds and three steals. She was named first team All-District for District 10 6A in Texas. While Sanders will have to earn her time on a stacked JSU roster, she adds another high profile personality to an athletic program that’s maximizing exposure opportunities. And rightfully so. The 18 year old’s Instagram post about signing to Jackson State had over 14,000 likes in the first 24 hours.
It’s a family affair for Deion Sanders at JSU with three of his children participating in sports. Not to be forgotten, son Deion Jr. is also the videographer for the football team.