It’s over! What was that? We can make weekend plans now! Wait, recruiting season starts in 2.3 seconds? Here’s what I wondered, pondered, and worried about during a slightly delirious final weekend and while immediately pivoting to thinking about next year.
Question: What’s up next for LSU?
A historic result naturally elicits historic excitement with the corresponding historic dreams, expectations, and scrutiny. The rumor mill led us on an apparent serious but ultimately unsuccessful bid to poach the coaching staff this week; at least it looks like the Tiger coaches will be back in Baton Rouge. But there are still tons of questions about who will be returning and who will be healthy next year. Alyona Shchennikova still has eligibility! Haleigh Bryant and Kiya Johnson have been playing the will-they-won’t-they game. Of the incoming freshmen, I feel comfortable that Kailin Chio will be great, but the rest have a smattering of the usual fresh-from-elite question marks. Will we see any of Kylie Coen or Bryce Wilson next year? Will the Tigers be active in the transfer portal in either direction? I’m excited to see how this team handles the championship experience and moves forward.
Bonus Questions:
What in the world, Oklahoma? I don’t want to spend a lot of space writing about this because I don’t have a lot to say about it. I honestly think it was a total one-off fluke that will turn out to have minimal to no future implications. That said, most people thought it would never happen at all.
How many transfers and commitment flips can Cecile Landi bring to Georgia? The first test for the Landi/Roberts era doesn’t begin in January, it begins right now. One of the great attractions of hiring an elite coach is their personal connections to talented athletes. It would almost be a disappointment if Cecile can’t start pulling new talent to Athens immediately.
Comment: The best part of the end of the season is the start of offseason.
There’s just so much to get amped about right now. Coaching moves and rumors! Greg Marsden just posted his first coaching carousel graphic of the offseason. Transfer portal news! We’ve had tons of recent portal announcements, including entrants from UCLA and Oklahoma and the thrilling announcement that Kara Eaker is looking to return to NCAA. Fifth-year news! There are still tons of question marks on high-profile athletes, including Haleigh Bryant teasing her announcement, and best of all, there are just 50 days until June 15 and the Class of 2026 becoming eligible for NCAA recruitment! There’s just so much to get excited about right now. The moving parts of an offseason can be just as exciting, and just as hard to follow, as the season. There’s no danger of getting bored.
Bonus Comments:
Nationals is so fun for teams that aren’t always there! I love seeing how non-stalwart teams and individual qualifiers react to the big stage, especially when the results are great. I’ve been super charmed by Washington’s excitement about Skylar Killough-Wilhelm becoming an All-American, among many others.
Courtney Blackson is her. A championship first-team All-American on two different events in two consecutive years! As an individual event qualifier! Incredible.
Concern: You OK, Alabama?
Alabama’s shocking beam meltdown in semifinals was overshadowed by Oklahoma’s, but it was arguably more dramatic. In some ways, it’s not so bad. By making nationals, the Tide still improved on last year’s ranking. But still, this is a pretty substantial oops.
In 2024, Alabama was a team that was often imprecise and sometimes erratic but usually worked through its problems and avoided outright disaster. This was an outright disaster. As with Oklahoma, the best move might just be to do their best to forget it, but it certainly wasn’t a good day.
Bonus Concerns:
We never did hear anything more about Iowa, such as whether it currently has a coach or not. I wonder when that’s going to resolve…
2026 is such a big number. We’re not too far away from gymnasts committing to college who weren’t alive during the Beijing Olympics. Stop that. Settle down.
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Article by Rebecca Scally
