The class of 2028 is packed with talent, but attention is usually primarily directed at the big names or top-rated recruits. If you’re wondering about athletes who have room for significant improvements, here are 10 who could make big waves in future years.
1. Maliha Tressel
Rating: ★★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Former U.S. National Team member Tressel moved back to level 10 competition in February. Having shown strong scoring potential across all four events and with a seventh-place finish at nationals, the switch in trajectory may have been the right move for her preparation for collegiate competition. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if her scores increase; while she has been consistent in earning scores in the 9.400 to 9.700 range thus far, fine tuning some small details in her routines could take her to the next level.
2. Caylee Cain
Rating: ★★★★
Why she’s one to watch: With an already-stacked resume, the 2025 Nastia Liukin Cup champion will undoubtedly be a recruit to pay close attention to. Unfortunately, Cain suffered an Achilles tear in December, rendering her unable to compete throughout 2026. She has since posted several training clips depicting her progress on her best event of bars, where she earned a near-perfect event total of 23. Just one point short of five-star status, a successful comeback for Cain could spell out big things for any program in the country.
3. Julia Sciacchitano
Rating: ★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Sciacchitano also excels on bars, where she boasts an event rating of 20. She has great basics and potential for growth on the other events as well, and could see a boost in her all-around ranking with increased execution on any one of them. Vault stands out as a particular area for potential growth. Sciacchitano has the necessary power on vault, but sometimes struggles to find a clean landing. Tuning up the finer details could boost her scoring potential on the event, and potentially move her firmly into the four-star category.
4. Lila Richardson
Rating: ★★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Richardson has broken out in a big way on the elite scene this year, having earned her first international assignment and multiple new career-high scores. With significant improvements to her difficulty, execution, and confidence already in the books, it will be intriguing to see how Richardson continues to build over the next two years. Bars will be of particular interest; she is rated four points lower there in comparison to her other event ratings, and improvements could fully solidify her as a potential all-around competitor in college.
5. Sierra Davis
Rating: ★★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Davis is an incredibly strong recruit, particularly on beam and floor, where her stellar acro form and engaging performance quality should slot quite well into lineups. However, her lack of difficulty on vault restrained her overall rating. Her Yurchenko layout is clean and consistently well landed, indicating that she may be prepared for an upgrade to a more difficult vault in the future. The materialization of such an upgrade would be huge for Davis.
6. Amaya Umphrey
Rating: ★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Umphrey is exactly on the cusp of a four-star rating, bolstered particularly by her 22-point event total on vault. Injuries, including a significant knee injury in February which kept her from finishing the season, have served as a roadblock, and her recovery and comeback will be one to pay close attention to. It will be interesting to see how her performances on her weakest event of bars look in her return to competition, as this is the largest aspect holding her back from reaching the next tier of ratings.
7. Emma Novacki
Rating: ★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Novacki completed her first year of level 10 competition in 2026, building well off her strong fundamentals on vault, beam, and floor. Novacki has begun training a Yurchenko 1.5, which will be tremendous for her recruiting potential should it materialize in competition. Novacki is most hampered by bars, where she has attempted upgrades but has yet to hit them in competition. With one season of level 10 in the books, more competitive experience will help her greatly, and could lead to a rise in the ratings.
8. Grace Wickham
Rating: ★★★
Why she’s one to watch: Wickham is a strong and balanced recruit across bars, beam, and floor. In particular, her dynamic and position-perfect leaps on beam are laudable, showing a level of college readiness on the event that will only build over the next two years. Wickham vaults a Yurchenko layout with some form issues, leading to a rating on the event that contrasts greatly with her aptitude on the other apparatuses. Building towards a more difficult vault and fine tuning her execution could boost Wickham closer towards lineup-ready performances on all four events.
9. Quinn Harris
Rating: ★★★
Why she’s one to watch: The fourth-place finisher at the 2026 Nastia Liukin Cup, Harris is not only enjoyable to watch on bars and beam, but also shows remarkable consistency in both scoring and execution. Struggles with amplitude and leg form hamper her performances on vault and floor, but these issues are certainly surmountable. With improvements on these events that move closer towards her clean execution on bars and beam, Harris’ rating could rise greatly.
10. Zaven Cooper
Rating: Unrated
Why she’s one to watch: Cooper is a strong recruit on vault and floor, where she performs a routinely clean Yurchenko full and tumbles with a high level of potential. She is held back by bars and beam, where her form can be imprecise at times. However, legitimate room for growth is evident, and increases in execution on those events would complement her already-established strengths well.
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Article by Sarah Smith
