When Deiondra Sanders had her baby, it was probably the most special moment for Deion Sanders, more so because the baby boy was born on Coach Prime’s birthday. Alas, who knew that this moment of happiness would end up becoming a double-edged sword for Shelomi Sanders? Coach Prime and Shelomi’s entire relationship is complicated. “Where I come from, historically, kids follow their parents,” was something Deion had said when Shelomi had decided to switch camps for her basketball career. A once cherished father and daughter connection had become a turf for intense back and forth, which still continues.

Deion Sanders took to his Instagram on September 23 to post a picture of Shelomi along with an interesting caption. “@shelomisanders thinks she’s #1 in my kids Rankings. I Love u baby but you’re NOT #1 right now your sister @deiondrasanders is because she just had her Lil Baby,” Coach Prime wrote in the caption of the post. This is a weird snub, especially because just a few hours back, Deion had made an attempt to reconcile with his daughter. On Big Noon Kickoff, Deion had noted, “She thinks she is the no. 1 seed right now; I love it.” 

Deion was talking about Shelomi’s new shirt where she put herself in the top spot on the list of favorite kids (of Coach Prime). However, the stunt he pulled today feels like he is still salty about what happened. The first time Deion learned about Shelomi’s decision to leave the Buffs and join Alabama A&M, Coach Prime called the move “stupid.”

Shelomi’s decision came after she realized that the Buffs ain’t the best place for her growth. The young guard had only played 1.8 minutes over 5 games. “It just wasn’t good energy,” Shelomi had mentioned during an interview while talking about her decision to hit the transfer portal. While some might think that her choice to leave the Buffs would be a bad thing, her journey with A&M has been nothing but solid.

A&M basketball coach Dawn Thornton was quite impressed with what Shelomi was capable of pulling during practice sessions.  “She has great athleticism and will make it very hard for teams to zone us,” Thornton noted while talking about how well Shelomi has managed to insert herself into the roster. So this kind of makes you wonder why Deion Sanders still finds it hard to accept that one of his kids wants to shape a separate path for herself. Still, there is someone from the Sanders family who has had her back throughout this journey.

What Deion Sanders won’t do, Pilar Sanders would

Back on the Cody Freeman Show, while talking about her journey, Shelomi mentioned, “The food is good.” There could be only one reason behind this; that is Pilar Sanders. Pilar had rolled out the VVIP treatment for her daughter as Shelomi slowly moved away from Coach Prime’s shadow. When Deion rejected the idea of Shelomi being with A&M, Pilar accepted the entire thing with arms open wide.

“Yeeaaasssss! Keep backing them down, baby!” Pilar had noted on an Instagram post that had video snippets of Shelomi’s practice session at Alabama A&M. Not only that. Back on September 2, Pilar was quite excited and broke the news that Shelomi had now adopted a new cat. “She just got a black cat named Blayze,” Pilar noted while also talking about how happy Shelomi has been after she moved to Huntsville.

Pilar also gave the fans some info regarding Shelomi’s foot surgery and how well she was recovering from it. “She just had surgery on her foot, so she recovered well,” Pilar mentioned. One major point in Shelomi’s career is also just around the corner. Shelomi is going to have her first Media Days in California and pretty sure Pilar is going to be there for her daughter. Still, as the Sanders family continues to engage in this weird tug of war, Shelomi is slowly carving out her own story.