Avery King grew up dreaming of being an NCAA gymnast. She started gymnastics when she was three and, year after year, watched the “big girls” going through the recruiting process, signing their national letters of intent and, eventually, leaving for, and competing in, college. King wanted to be just like them.
“I thought of these girls as celebrities,” she recalled. “They were my biggest role models and inspiration. Through and through, seeing college gymnasts made in front of my own eyes really made it feel like a possibility for me.”
She excitedly watched the kick-off of her own recruiting process grow near, but when the time came this past year, she started doubting herself. “I think my biggest fear … was letting my younger self down,” she said. “This is not only my dream, but also her dream and I wanted to be sure that I made it happen.”
King’s sudden lack of confidence coincided with a period of crisis in her career. An elite gymnast who’d competed at the junior U.S. championships both in 2021 and 2022, she tried to qualify for her first senior season three times between January and March 2023. She failed on each occasion, leaving her sad, disappointed, and unmotivated.
After careful consideration, she realized that to regain her confidence and give her elite career another shot, she needed a coaching change. In May, she switched from WOGA to Metroplex, a move that proved transformative. “Little did I know [that] this was the best decision I could have ever made for myself,” King said. “At the time, I didn’t even know if I was going to compete again that year. I had lost all confidence and all hope. This [was] the lowest I had felt in a long time.”
“My [new] coaches helped me take it one step at a time with the utmost support,” she added. “Throughout the process, I learned to love the sport again and I regained my confidence. I began to not only see progress mentally but also in my gymnastics.”
In early June, King successfully qualified elite at the Parkettes Elite Qualifier. After much perseverance, achieving the qualifying score felt like “one of the proudest moments” of her career. Later in the summer, she competed at the American Classic, where she won a silver medal on floor, and the GK U.S. Classic. “I have never enjoyed competing more than at these meets,” she recalled.
King was still recovering her confidence when her recruiting process began on June 15th. She entered it as a recently announced five-star recruit, something that gave her “an extra boost of confidence.”
Even though, through the years, King had seen many clubmates go through the recruiting process, she felt unfamiliar and confused with how the system worked. No one had truly prepared her for the fact that every school recruits differently. Some schools set up an official visit after one or two phone calls, while others waited longer. Some offered her a scholarship almost immediately, while others didn’t until later.
King navigated her offers with the help of some teammates who had been, or were going through, the recruiting process. Eventually, she set her mind on six schools: Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan State, Auburn, and Oregon State.
“Going into my visits, I knew that the schools had everything I wanted in terms of resources, academics [and gymnastics],” she explained. “Therefore, most importantly, I was looking for a family. I wanted a place that was my family away from home. Somewhere I would still want to be on a bad day. Not only that, but I wanted somewhere I would still be happy if for some reason gymnastics was taken out of the picture.”
King loved every school more than she thought she would, but after her sixth visit to Oregon State, she felt she still hadn’t found a home away from home.
It was at the airport, flying back from Corvallis, when, on a whim, King decided to reach out to Arkansas head coach Jordyn Wieber. She sent her some recent training videos, as well as a text expressing her interest in Arkansas. Wieber replied almost immediately, and they set up a phone call. “Funny enough, the first time I ever talked to her was during my layover,” King said. “Immediately, I felt a connection with Jordyn and we set up a visit.”
The following week King visited Arkansas. She was nervous because, compared to the other schools she’d visited, she felt she lacked a relationship with the coaches—she’d spoken to Wieber only twice and was yet to meet the rest of the coaching staff. Once there, her anxiety dissipated. “Once I met the rest of the staff, I felt the same connection [I felt with Jordyn],” she said. “I knew that, overtime, I could see myself building a relationship with these people. This was my seventh and final visit, and I finally had the feeling that this is where I belonged.”
King remembers exactly the moment when she knew she would commit to Arkansas: it was during dinner at the end of the second day of her visit. She was at a restaurant with the other visiting 2025 recruits, which included future Razorbacks Avalon Campbell and Bradley Burton, as well as the 2024 recruits, who were there on an unofficial visit. “I knew these were the people that I wanted to be teammates with,” King said. “I had a feeling all day, but this is the exact moment I knew this is where I was meant to be.”
Many reasons made Arkansas a perfect fit for King. After visiting schools in the SEC, Big 10, Pac 12 and ACC conferences, she knew that the SEC was the conference she wanted to be a part of. The location of Fayetteville, moreover, was especially important. King is very close to her family and, after a few visits around the country, she realized that she was not yet ready to be far away from home. Arkansas, which is a five-hour drive or 45-minute flight away from her hometown in Texas, was perfectly located.
Most importantly, it was the people who swung the balance for King. She’s enthusiastic about her future teammates and is already feeling a strong chemistry with Campbell and Burton. She’s equally delighted with the coaching staff, who she sees as a second family: “someone that would still be there for me outside of the gym when I need it.”
Finally, King became enthused with Arkansas’s team culture while watching the team practice. “When talking to Jordyn, she mentioned that their motto is to ‘Train hard while having fun’ and this is exactly what I saw,” King said. “Personally, I train the best when I am alongside people who have the same drive while still having fun. They began practice by playing a fun stick game to get the energy going. Throughout the whole practice they were encouraging each other and cheering for each other across the whole gym. This type of support and culture is what I want to be a part of.”
After finding a home away from home in Fayetteville, King was ecstatic to announce her commitment to Arkansas. It was the best moment of her career. “Committing to a DI college has always been the biggest dream of mine and part of my main motivation,” she said. “The amount of work and sacrifice I have put in for this exact moment makes everything so worth it. Nothing makes me smile more than the thought of pursuing this dream.”
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Article by Talitha Ilacqua
This Arkansas class in incredible, can’t wait to watch them and see how far they go (I smell a natty!)