(GYM) ***CLOSED***Gymnastics 2023 - 2024***CLOSED

The group of 13 5-star gymnasts is thinning out based on availability.

5-Stars Committed:

1. Kamila Pawlak - Oklahoma
2. Mackenzie Estep - Oklahoma
3. Jasmine Cawley - Alabama
6. Jocelyn Sasson - Florida
9. Madelyn Dorbin - Florida
10. Myli Lew - Michigan

5-Stars Uncommitted:

4. Nina Ballou
5. Allison Cucci
7. Avery King
8. Sophia Diaz
11. Tiana Sumanasekera
12. Azaraya Ra-Akbar
13. Paloma Spiridonova

After Jasmine Cawley passed over the #1 public university in the nation and the best gymnastics program in the SEC, I'm reluctant to guess what these young ladies will do.

 

Nina Ballou the 5-star and 4th rated gymnast in the 2025 class has announced her final 4 and announcement date:

(@_nina.symone) • Instagram photos and videos

Florida
LSU
Oklahoma
UCLA

The folks at tiger droppings posted last night that one of their coaches was hinting that LSU received a commitment. Given the 10/18 commitment date and the final 4 involved, my guess is Nina Ballou is headed to LSU to join 4 star and #16 rated Elyse Wenner as the tigers second commitment from the 2025 class.

Given that I struck out guessing on my Jasmine Cawley to UF prediction, take my LSU prediction with a grain of salt.

 

Sloane Blakely working on bars:

(1) britton ☁️ on X: "OK SLOANE https://t.co/jTVvpndhLh" / X (twitter.com)

This time next year, Sloane will be working out as a senior with her freshman sister Skye who has deferred enrollment until after Paris 24.

 

Oklahoma and Michigan Recruiting Updates - Both Picked Up Another Commitment in the 25 class on Monday:

Oklahoma - Blakely Roten 4 star & #18 rated.
Michigan - Ashlee Sullivan 4 star & #19 rated who visited UF 10/6.

Oklahoma:

1. Kamila Pawlak
2. Mackenzie Estep
18. Blakely Roten
30. Ella Murphy

Oklahoma's class is likely full, so 5 star & #4 rated Nina Ballou really has a top 3 of Florida, LSU, and UCLA. I'm sticking with my 10/18 commit to LSU. Hope I'm wrong as Nina would be a terrific pick up for UF. There has just been a lot of smoke coming out of LSU fan for me to not believe there is something to it.

Michigan:

10. Myli Lew
19. Ashlee Sullivan

 

Madelyn "Maddy" Dorbin's Commitment to Florida:

5-Star Recruit Maddy Dorbin Commits to Florida with Her Brother’s Help - College Gym News

Maddy is 9th ranked and one of the two 5-star commitments in UF's 2025 recruiting class. Jocelyn Sasson 6th ranked is the other commitment. As the article points out, Maddy has to work hard on vault as it is her most challenging event.

 

In the I did not know department:

Recruiting Declassified: Official Visits - College Gym News

Gymnasts are now able to take unlimited official visits instead of the maximum of 5 which was allowed in past.

 

I'm 1-1 on my 5-star predictions, but would rather have been wrong on this one:

(1) Nina Ballou on X: "Home is where the heart is, and mine lives in the Bayou #commited #GeauxTigers https://t.co/WdE9dW4in9" / X (twitter.com)

LSU fan has been confident #4 ranked Ballou was going to commit to LSU for quite a while, lots of smoke and now the fire.

 

If you are wondering why I have posted so much on recruiting, the 2025 recruits are in the process of making decisions with most decisions coming in the next few weeks, depends on how many recruiting visits the gymnasts have planned.

Through Thursday, 10/19:

Of the 5-star gymnasts, 8 of the 13 have committed.

Of the 4-star gymnasts, 14 of the 30 have committed.

The dance cards are filling out quickly and it's not hard to see where the strength of women's gymnastics resides in the future. Of the eight 5 stars committed, 7 will be performing in the SEC. The only 5 star who is committed outside of the SEC is the gymnast going to Michigan. Since this is the 25 class, I count Oklahoma as SEC.

The seven 5-stars committed to SEC schools:

Oklahoma 2
Florida 2
Alabama 1
Arkansas 1
LSU 1

 

#28 ranked 4-star gymnast Charlotte Booth has committed to Auburn:

Auburn gymnastics gets recruiting win, beats out Oklahoma, Florida, LSU and Alabama for 4-star - al.com

Charlotte visited UF 2 weeks ago along with 4 other gymnasts. All but one from that weekend visit have committed elsewhere.

The article says Charlotte picked Auburn over Oklahoma, Florida, LSU, and Alabama. It's very likely she picked Auburn over LSU and Alabama. There has been smoke about Charlotte committing to LSU for weeks now. In regard to Alabama, Charlotte's 5-star teammate at Brandy Johnson's Jasmine Crawley picked the Tide last week. Oklahoma is likely filled up with their 4 commitments so not likely offered by the Sooners or offer withdrawn. In the case of Florida, I don't think Charlotte had a committable offer. UF has two 5-stars committed and could be cherry picking if the Gators have any openings left. Fewer slots available would mean the news inside the program is all good.

The remaining visitor who hasn't committed from two weeks ago is 4 star and #15 ranked Haley Mustari who trains out of Dynamo Gymnastics (OK). If Oklahoma is full as has been speculated, I like UF's chances as well as anyone although LSU fan thinks everyone who visits there is going to commit to LSU which includes hopes for Mustari. Haley would be a terrific pick up for UF as she is an accomplished all arounder. Word is she is planning to announce a commitment next week.

The other recruit I like a ton is 5 star & #11 ranked Tiana Sumanasekera. I saw her compete in the US Nationals in early September. She doesn't have high scores across the board, but she is as physically gifted if not more so than anyone in the 25 class. With the right coaching at UF and with more maturity Tiana could develop into a superstar.

If I'm CJR, I'd make room for both Tiana and Haley.

 

Last spring, I thought Utah HC Tom Farden was purging his line ups when several gymnasts transferred out. Clearly, that was not the case. This is a royal mess that I see no way he can survive. Kara Eaker finished any notions that this is a situation of discontented gymnasts not getting their way.

I don't know how Utah is getting any recruits at this point in time. I have to wonder about the #1 gymnast in the 2024 class, Avery Neff, who won't enroll at Utah until next year. She could back away from her commitment even though she lives in Utah and performing with the Red Rocks has been her dream. If she backs out and reopens her recruiting, Oklahoma was #2 and UF was #3 in her original decision process.

In the 2025 class, Haley Mustari will be picking from UF, LSU, OU, and Utah next Wednesday. If OU is full as is being speculated, her decision has really come down to UF and LSU. I see no way she will pick Utah after Kara Eaker's statement. LSU is closer to her Oklahoma home, but UF got her last visit two weeks ago.

Abuse by coaches in gymnastics is both a university problem and a club/elite problem. Several of UF's gymnasts suffered abuse at the club/elite level, see Alyssa Baumann and Riley McCusker.

 

Gators Participating in the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile:

Gators Gymnastics on X: "Good luck to: @kayladicello and competing at Pan American Games in Chile! Action starts Sunday w/ Team Final, All-Around & Event Qualification! (Subdivision 2 at 1:30pmET ➡️ &amp https://t.co/q4iGc7jYEp #GoGators | ‍♀️ https://t.co/K85pcY62MQ" / X (twitter.com)

Kayla DiCello - USA
Anya Pilgrim - Barbados

Anya continues to get performance experience on a big stage which is all good for her and UF's 2024 season.

I continue to hope Kayla changes her mind and returns to UF in January. I know it isn't likely, but I think she could benefit from UF coaching while working on her elite training with Trinity Thomas and Leanne Wong. She will have to make a major improvement jump to have any chance of making the USA Team for Paris 24.

2023 USA Women's Pan American Team Roster:

Jordan Chiles - Vancouver, Wash./World Champions Centre
Kayla DiCello - Boyds, Md./Hill’s Gymnastics
Katelyn Jong - Allen, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics*
Kaliya Lincoln - Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
Evelynn Lowe - Blue Springs, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express
Nola Matthews - Gilroy, Calif./Airborne Gymnastics Training Center
Zoe Miller - Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
Tiana Sumanasekera - Pleasanton, Ca./World Champions Centre
Alicia Zhou - San Antonio, Texas/Love Gymnastics

BOLD = Travel Team USA
Non-Bold = Non-Travelling Alternates
* Qualified Individually - Won 2021 Junior Pan American Games

 

The gymnast second from the right in UF's photo is the gymnast I hope UF is working on for a visit and to come to UF, Tiana Sumanasekera.

Gators Gymnastics on X: "Two with #Gators ties competed Sunday in Pan Am Games team final / AA & event qualification. @kayladicello wins team with competed as individual for #GoGators | ‍♀️ https://t.co/FPe9QafD0M" / X (twitter.com)

Because of the 2 gymnast per team to qualify rule, Tiana didn't advance to the all-around or event finals. Nevertheless, she is an outstanding young gymnast with tremendous upside.

Tiana is the 11th ranked 5-star gymnast in the 25 class, trains in Texas, and is from Pleasanton, California. I'm thinking Cal, Stanford, or UCLA, but UF has a punchers chance if CJR can get her on a campus visit. She is training for a Paris 24 Team USA tryout, but she may be taking visits as she will be eligible to enroll immediately after the Olympics.

 

Pan Am results have an NCAA flare:

Pan American Games: Women's Team and Qualifications - CollegeGymFans.com

The US won the Gold medal in the team competition at the 2023 Pan American Games. They defeated Brazil and Canada despite using an all-new lineup for the Pan Ams. The Gold medalist squad included UCLa's Jordan Chiles, Florida's Kayla DiCello, LSU commit Kaliya Lincoln and LSU commit Zoe Miller. Their team total would have placed a close 3rd at the recent World Championships. Chiles and DiCello placed 1-2 in the AA competition to qualify for the final. Chiles also qualified into the VT and UB finals while DiCello qualified to the FX and BB finals. Miller was the top qualifier on UB, while Lincoln qualified to the BB and FX finals. Auburn commit Katelyn Jong qualified to the UB final but will not advance due to the two per country rule.

Bronze medalist Canada was also well represented by future NCAAers: Iowa commits Aurelie Tran, Cassie Lee and Sydney Turner, Minnesota commit Ava Stewart and Iowa State commit Frederique Sgarbossa. Tran and Stewart qualified to the AA, UB and BB finals (with Stewart #1 on BB). Tran also qualified to the FX final, along with Turner. Bama's Luisa Blanco led fifth place Colombia, qualifying to the AA final with a 10th place AA finish. She also was the top AAer in qualifying that is eligible for the Olympic spot that will be awarded at this competition. Former DU star Lynnzee Brown also qualified to the AA final, placing 14th for Haiti. Florida's Anya Pilgrim was 27th AA.

 

Pan Am Team and Qualification Results:

Juegos Panamericanos 2023 (results-santiago2023.org)

Kayla DiCello will compete in all-around today and will compete in event finals on beam and floor.

 

Kara Eaker and Utah made national news on GMA this morning:

Good Morning America on X: "A University of Utah gymnast announces her retirement after alleging verbal and emotional abuse by a coach. @EvaPilgrim has the details. https://t.co/XCNWoif7OP https://t.co/dXtmqE54nL" / X (twitter.com)

Utah HC Tom Farden = Dead Coach Walking.

 

In recruiting, the following is what is currently projected headed into the 2025/26 year:

2026
Lori Brubach
Morgan Hurd
Alyssa Arana
Kaylee Bluffstone
Kayla DiCello
Gabby Disidore
Skylar Draser
Danie Ferris
Anya Pilgrim
Skye Blakely
Lily Bruce
Taylor Clark
Shilese Jones
Alyssa Orgen
Madelyn Dorbin
Jocelyn Sasson

If all of the projections hold which I think is a big if at this time, UF would be able to bring in two more gymnasts from the 25 class which would keep UF with the same number of gymnasts as projected for 2024/25 with 18 gymnasts on the roster.