The Whiffenpoofs are a long-running, world-touring Yale a cappella group made up each year of 14 senior men, most of whom take a year off from school so as to spend as much time as possible singin’. And next year their ranks will include Brandon Sherrod, a 6’6” forward for the Yale basketball team who will be temporarily leaving the team to specialize in Whiffenpoofery. From NBC CollegeBasketballTalk:
Sherrod played an average of 21 minutes per game last season, starting 14 of Yale’s 33 contests. Losing Sherrod will hurt some, but the Bulldogs have depth in the front court with junior Justin Sears (16.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg) leading the way. And with Javier Duren (13.6, 3.9, 3.1 apg) and Armani Cotton (8.5, 5.4) back on the perimeter, Yale has the look of a team capable of challenging Harvard for Ivy League supremacy.
Sherrod will retain his final season of eligibility, as he’ll be able to rejoin the program for the 2015-16 campaign when he re-enters school.
Nerd stereotypes aside, Ivy League basketball is a competitive endeavor: Harvard’s team has won NCAA tournament games in each of the last two years, and Yale’s 2013-2014 squad finished second in the league. Sherrod hails from Bridgeport, Connecticut—where he says he would like to someday run for mayor—and has a cousin, Derek, who plays for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.
