The summer after his senior season at Oak Park High School in 2023, Raiders starting forward Isaiah Sherrard had no plans to play basketball at Moorpark College. In fact, Sherrard had garnered interest from Division I intercollegiate programs beginning his sophomore year of high school.
Quincy Pondexter, a former NBA veteran, noticed Sherrard after watching him practice on an adjacent court at Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks. Pondexter, an assistant coach for the University of Washington, introduced himself to Sherrard, and the two stayed in contact throughout his high school career.
After a long recruitment process, Sherrard ultimately committed to the University of Washington in May 2023, much later than most recruits.
“I committed really late. I knew there was supposed to be summer workouts, but I didn’t know when,” Sherrard said. “Literally the night I committed, Quincy told me, ‘Well, you have to be here in a week and a half,’ which I was not expecting to hear at all.”
Sherrard moved to Washington right away, excited for the biggest stage his basketball career had seen thus far. Yet, in his first few scrimmages, the excitement quickly faded.
“To be honest, the summer was tough. I didn’t think the coaches fully believed in me yet. I had a bad first impression even in the first open runs,” Sherrard revealed. “I remember the very first game I went in, I airballed a corner three, and I had two turnovers. From that day on it just got worse, to be honest.”
Sherrard noted that he had felt that none of the authoritative figures seemed to trust his abilities.
“The coaches gave up on me, which really sucked. It felt like they stopped talking to me. I remember one of the coaches working out every player but me, even some other walk-ons,” Sherrard said.
Soon after, he decided to redshirt his freshman season and focus on improvement much as he could through experiences with his teammates. This meant Sherrard could not appear in any games, which he said was hard to handle at first.
“Just sitting out for months, you know, wasting my time, and seeing all my friends having great times, it really hurt,” Sherrard said.
Instead of dwelling on this new, unfamiliar feeling, Sherrard chose to be himself and find positivity in his situation.
“I stopped taking the coaches so seriously, and started just having fun with it again,” Sherrard said. “From then on, I started playing really well in practices on the scout team, where I got to just show my skill.”
At ease but not entirely satisfied, Sherrard hoped to continue on his path to success through more solid practices. However, on Jan. 31, 2024, everything worsened when Sherrard “felt a pop” in his knee during a non-contact drill in practice one night.
Sherrard had torn his ACL and meniscus. Everything he had been working for, all of the great showings at practice, gone in the blink of an eye. He moved back to California for surgery in February 2024. He notes that the initial month of recovery was nothing short of gruesome pain.
“The first week after was the worst. My leg had to be fully locked out and extended, all day for six weeks. I couldn’t put any weight on it,” Sherrard said.
Isaiah’s father, Mike Sherrard, a former NFL wide receiver and Super Bowl champion, cared for Isaiah during his healing process.
“Isaiah’s worked so hard over many years to be at the Division I level. I always kept it positive with him,” his father noted. “I knew it was going to be a long, hard road to recovery but I had 100% confidence he would do everything humanly possible to get back on the court.”
After he could move around on crutches, Sherrard utilized Elite OrthoSport physical therapy in Santa Monica for six weeks until he could walk without the assistance of crutches. Around this time, he decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal, still keeping his positive mindset.
“I thought hopefully I’d get something good with the portal, and I got interest from Cal Poly and Pepperdine. But once they heard I had a torn ACL, they weren’t really interested, which is fair because I haven’t proven anything,” Sherrard explained.
With time dwindling and interest from major universities cooling down, Sherrard met with Moorpark College men’s basketball head coach Keith Higgins. Sherrard notes Higgins’s dedication to his program and to improving his abilities and confidence as a player as the main reason he enjoyed what Moorpark College had to offer.
“In March, I took the tour of Moorpark [College], and that’s when I realized how good Coach Higgins was, and the program too. His track record speaks for itself. I mean, his son is at a Division I school,” Sherrard noted.
A few months later, Sherrard ultimately decided to commit to Moorpark College.
In the meantime, the main priority for Sherrard became restructuring his knee so he could get back on the court and start to feel like himself: A 6-foot-8 forward who can jump out of the gym and shoot the three nicely for his size. However, he had much more training to endure before he could feel anywhere close to that.
“The doctors would tell me orders, but I would almost push the orders a little bit. They would tell me, ‘All you can do is take jump shots,’ but I’d do little moves into jump shots and push it just a bit so I could stay a couple weeks ahead of my timeline, which I think really helped me keep my mind at peace,” Sherrard said.
With more time passing and more work being put in each day, Sherrard was on the path to a full recovery. Physicians, however, were skeptical. They believed he needed a bit more time, but Sherrard did not agree. By this time, he had entered the month of December, and the Raiders had already played over a dozen games. Sherrard did not want to miss another second of action.
“Different doctors told me different things, but I felt ready to go,” Sherrard explained.
With that, it came time for Sherrard to finally show that the injury was just a mere bump in the long road to success.
His first game back was against Los Angeles City College on Dec. 20. When asked if he was nervous or afraid of feeling any pain, he said none of the above applied to him.
“Honestly, I was just ready to kill. I worked too hard for all this. In my head I thought about all of the coaches in high school, and the University of Washington for giving up on me. I was ready to go out and show them they made a mistake,” Sherrard said.
He did just that. In his first game since the injury, Sherrard scored 24 points, making 11 out of his 16 field goal attempts, with seven rebounds in just 19 minutes of game action off the bench. In a dramatic two-point victory over Los Angeles City College for their sixth straight win at the time, Sherrard did not stop there.
Just two days later, another impressive showing took place against MiraCosta College. Sherrard once again came off the bench and lit up the stat sheet with 28 points, eight rebounds, and six steals in a double overtime thriller in which the Raiders came out on top, 100-95.
Since then, Sherrard has kept up the stellar play, averaging 16.1 points per game and snagging 7.3 rebounds while shooting an efficient 50.5% from the field and 36.1% beyond the 3-point line as a starter and leading the Raiders to a 10-2 record in the WSC North, securing their second straight league title.
More importantly for Sherrard, he was crowned the WSC North Player of the Year. A year ago today, no one knew if such an individual award was in the realm of possibilities this quickly. Isaiah credits his family, his determination and Coach Higgins for his path to recovery and success.
From a parent’s perspective, Mike Sherrard could not be happier to see his son back in action.
“It’s been a joy to see Isaiah get back on the court. I knew his work ethic would pay off,” his father said. “I’m a proud parent and I really look forward to a strong playoff run this year and more great basketball from Isaiah in the future.”
When asked about Sherrard’s growth over such a short period of time, Coach Higgins could not express more excitement for Isaiah.
“It’s like a miracle, for him to have offers and coaches looking at him, it’s been really special to see. That was the whole goal,” Higgins said.
Now, Sherrard’s goal remains to get back to the Division I level, and he’s already on track, picking up an offer from Southern Utah University. In the meantime, he’s enjoying playing great basketball for the Raiders and looking to go on a playoff run while having a good time while returning to his authentic form.
