He became the starting quarterback in 1940, and played for the team from 1940-42. One of the few colleges running the T-formation, he captained the 1941–42 Brooklyn College team that upset the favored cross-town rival City College, and completed seven straight passes in a "scrimmage" against an NFL team then called the Brooklyn Dodgers. A teammate was future longtime Boston Celtics play-by-play man Johnny Most. Sherman graduated "cum laude" in 1943 just have turned 20 years of age, and 5' 10" and 160 pounds.