Commitment changes are one of the most exciting parts of following NCAA recruiting. High-profile switches, such as Morgan Price exchanging Arkansas for her HBCU dream at Fisk and JaFree Scott choosing Georgia after initially verballing to Florida, have captured gymnastics fans’ attention and imagination over recent months. Some of these gymnasts caught the eye of a top team after initially committing to a lower-ranked one while some chose a higher-ranked team and later realized that a smaller squad was a better fit for their dreams. Still others returned to the recruiting market because of changes in their scholarship plans. You might know the high-profile switches from the last few years, but the first commitments of some of your NCAA favorites might surprise you.
While these are 10 of the most intriguing commitment changes, there are dozens more we couldn’t fit in this article. If you want more, you’re in luck: You can find out full list here.
Danielle Sievers – Nebraska
The high-flying Oklahoma sophomore verbally committed to Nebraska early in her freshman year of high school and then shocked the gymnastics community by flipping to Oklahoma on signing day.
Mya Lauzon – Minnesota
This sophomore must have second-guessed those Minnesota winters: In temperate Northern California, she’s enjoyed time in all four lineups as a Golden Bear.
Lucy Stanhope – Arkansas
This Ute switched her commitment shortly after coach Garrett Griffeth, formerly of Arkansas and currently of LSU, was hired by Utah. Seeing high-profile recruits follow the coaches that recruited them is common in other NCAA sports but more unusual in gymnastics.
Reyna Guggino – Eastern Michigan
After seeing Guggino score a perfect 10.0 in maize and blue, it’s hard to imagine her wearing green, but this beloved leg-eventer was something of a late bloomer in level 10, never scoring above 37.150 in the all-around. Michigan’s coaches have a strong track record of identifying potential in level 10, though, and the rest is history.
Nicoletta Koulos – UCLA
As a Southern California product who trained alongside Bruin Gracie Kramer in club, UCLA was a logical choice for Koulos. Still, when she received an offer from the school that two of her siblings attended, it was a no-brainer for her to make the switch.
Maya Bordas – Illinois
Bordas was one of the country’s hottest level 10 recruits when she re-committed to Cal. It’s little wonder that she was receiving interest from other schools with level 10 scores as high as 38.800, but it was a lucky day for Cal when its first individual national champion chose to switch.
Amara Cunningham – Temple
Cunningham was recruited by Umme Salim-Beasley’s coaching staff at Temple and chose to open up her recruiting after Salim-Beasley was hired by Rutgers. She committed to Washington in the spring of her senior year and became a star immediately.
Gracie Kramer – Arizona State
Kramer had one of the latest commitment changes on this list: She signed a NLI with Arizona State and was all set to attend until the last week of her senior year when then-head coach Rene Lyst was fired. Unwilling to wait months to see who the new coach would be, Kramer looked elsewhere and found a home as a Bruin instead.
Jade DeGouveia – Pittsburgh
This one’s such a deep cut that we can’t find any information on what went into this change and when DeGouveia caught KJ Kindler’s eye, but suffice to say it’s very hard to imagine this Sooner legend in Pittsburgh.
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Article by Rebecca Scally
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