Wednesday marks the beginning of NLI week, the annual period during which schools finally reveal to us which gymnasts have signed on to join their programs for the 2019 competition season. The large majority will not be surprises since most of these gymnasts have been verbally committed since the late 1860s, but there are always a few little pieces of interest (usually regarding who doesn’t sign rather than who does).
To review:
NLI = National Letter of Intent
When a gymnast signs an NLI, it signals the end of the recruiting process and confirms a gymnast’s intent to attend the school in question. At this point, all other schools must cease recruiting that gymnast.
The NLI is accompanied by the athletic aid (scholarship) agreement. Gymnasts can’t sign NLIs if they are not receiving athletic aid, though they can receive athletic aid without signing an NLI.
So, let’s see what we see.
Note: Lots of teams now will announce their classes one-by-one on social media, so if you’re desperate to know who has been signed by a particular school, keep an eye on that. I’ll put them here once they provide their official press release.
I have changed the organization to a table because it’s better.
NLIs 2018-2019 |
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| OKLAHOMA | Release | Olivia Trautman Allie Stern |
| You’ll recall Trautman from her time competing as an elite from 2014-2016. Stern is a very interesting character in that she only became a Level 10 THIS YEAR and already got a scholarship to Oklahoma. | ||
| LSU | ||
| FLORIDA | Release | Leah Clapper Sydney Johnson-Scharpf Nya Reed Savannah Schoenherr |
| Clapper and Johnson-Scharpf we know (Clapper originally verballed to Penn State before her elite sojourn and then moved on up in the world). Reed was interestingly un-verballed as recently as JO nationals this year. We tend to think of these top-school spots as being locked 15 years in advance, but not always. | ||
| UCLA | Release | Margzetta Frazier Sekai Wright |
| UTAH | Release | Cristal Isa Adrienne Randall Hunter Dula Lauren Wong |
| For immediate purposes, the significant news is Lauren Wong joining early for the 2018 season. That should expand the options coming from the freshman class somewhat.
Cristal Isa joins Kari Lee as another gymnast who originally verballed to Arizona before switching to Utah. |
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| ALABAMA | Release Release 2 Release 3 Release 4 |
Griffin James Asia DeWalt Shallon Olsen Emily Gaskins |
| I didn’t see that many NCAA coaches at worlds, but I did see Dana and Bryan there. This is why. | ||
| NEBRASKA | Release | Abigail Johnston Sarah Hargrove Megan Thompson Kaylee Quinn |
| WASHINGTON | Release | Talia Brovedani Madeline McLellan Meaghan Ruttan |
| DENVER | Release | Alexis Vasquez Maddie Quarles Alexandra Ruiz |
| MICHIGAN | Release | Abby Brenner Abby Heiskell Natalie Wojcik Maddie Mariani |
| This is a class of L10 stars that Michigan has been looking forward to for a while now. They’re all legit. | ||
| OREGON STATE | Release | Jade Carey Madison Dagen Leah Bivrell |
| Carey had verbally committed to Oregon State before she became a thing, and they have managed to hang onto her. | ||
| GEORGIA | Release | Rachel Lukacs Samantha Davis Mikayla Magee Megan Roberts |
| It’s more or less a Ninja Level 10 rebuild for Georgia in the next couple classes, highlighted by Lukacs this year, probably the top L10 in the 2018-2019 national recruiting class.
Magee was originally a verbal for Utah until this June, when she switched to Georgia. Note that the original signing release also included Abbey Ward, an L10 from Orlando Metro, who has since been quietly removed. OOPSIES! NO SCHOLARSHIP FOR YOU! |
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| BOISE STATE | Release | Hope Masiado Alexis Stokes Sami Smith |
| KENTUCKY | Release | Josie Angeny Cally Nixon Arianna Patterson Ella Warren |
| AUBURN | Release | Derrian Gobourne |
| CAL | Release | Maya Bordas Milan Clausi Talitha Jones Abi Solari |
| MISSOURI | Release | Frances Bidwell Hannah McCrary Mya Mulligan |
| IOWA | Release | Alexandra Greenwald Lauren Guerin Bridget Killian Jax Kranitz Allie Gilchrist Mackenzie Vance |
| ARKANSAS | Release | Amanda Elswick Kennedy Hambrick |
| Amanda Elswick is the younger sister of Heather Elswick. Kennedy Hambrick is not related to Myia Hambrick. | ||
| WEST VIRGINIA | Release | Esperanza Abarca Mackenzie Black Kendra Combs Rachel Hornung |
| “Butts Inks Four Mountaineers.” I can’t be expected to work under these conditions. | ||
| ILLINOIS | Release | Mallory Mizuki Shaylah Scott Erin Weisel |
| SOUTHERN UTAH | Release | Caitlin Kho Karley McClain Shylen Murakami Rachel Smith |
| Basically trying to trick you into thinking they signed Mai Murakami, Ragan Smith, and Konnor McClain. | ||
| GEORGE WASHINGTON | Release | Deja Chambliss Simone Banen Olivia Raymond Paige Apperson |
| OHIO STATE | Release | Claire Gagliardi Kaitlyn Gilson Colby Miller Miriam Perez |
| CENTRAL MICHIGAN | Release | Alaina Kosto Morgan Tong Sierra DeMarinis |
| ARIZONA | Release | Kennedi Davis Asia DuVernay MacKinzie Kane Alivia Kendrick |
| EASTERN MICHIGAN | Release | Charlotte Reynolds Carly Kosanovich Brooke Hylek Karalyn Roberts |
| STANFORD | Release | Grace Waguespack Madison Burnette Morgan Hoang Wesley Stephenson Evelyn Micco |
| Correct. That is five new scholarship gymnasts for next year to replace one senior this year. | ||
| IOWA STATE | Release | Phoebe Turner |
| MINNESOTA | Release | Tiarre Sales Kaitlyn Higgins Abbie Nylin |
| PENN STATE | Release | Melissa Astarita Dymiana Cox |
| UTAH STATE | ||
| BYU | Release | Sadie Miner Lexi Griffith Rebekah Bean |
| KENT STATE | Cami Klein Alexsis Rubio Riley Danielson Maddie Iannuzzo Kendra Lindway |
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| NEW HAMPSHIRE | Release | Hannah Baddick Hailey Luie Mariella Miele |
| NORTH CAROLINA | Release | Emery Summey Drew Aldridge |
| MARYLAND | ||
| WESTERN MICHIGAN | Release | Sterlyn Austin Carissa Ludwig Carleigh Stillwagon |
| NORTHERN ILLINOIS | ||
| MICHIGAN STATE | Release | Sydney Ewing |
| Unfortunately, this is not LSU’s Sydney Ewing attempting to sneak back into NCAA gymnastics while wearing a fake mustache because you know how much I would have enjoyed that. It’s an entirely different person with the same name. Like we can deal with that. | ||
| ARIZONA STATE | Release | Stephanie Tripodi |
| UC DAVIS | Release | Liah Bosworth Cortney Cunningham |
| BALL STATE | Release | Marinia Livelsberger Marissa Nychyk Julia Wiest Sandra Elsadek |
| NC STATE | Release | Katie Cox Meredith Robinson |
| Cox is joining for January 2018. | ||
| TOWSON | ||
| BOWLING GREEN | Release | Tess Muir |
| SACRAMENTO STATE | Release | Karissa Hoffman Amber Koeth Destiny Watley |
| SAN JOSE STATE | Release | Tia Gin Carli Orcutt |
| RUTGERS | ||
| TWU | Release | Ellie Ambs Sadie Bish Domi Bonzagni Isabel Goyco |
| PITTSBURGH | Release | Katie Chamberlain Caitlyne Kline Olivia Miller Kiley Robatin |
| TEMPLE | ||
| UIC | ||
| ILLINOIS STATE | ||
| WILLIAM & MARY | ||
| SEMO | Release | Anna Kazinska Emma LaPinta |