Gymnasts Leaving, Staying, Transferring, & Recruits

ApexNC started a line of conversation in the national's thread that I think deserves its own thread. I'll kick it off with ApexNC's post followed by a few more:

FRIDAY AT 8:14 PM#112

ApexNCGC Hall of Fame
13,502
16,451
3,173
Apr 8, 2007
NC
Lots of chatter on Twitter about possible transfers (not FROM UF).

 

YESTERDAY AT 8:56 AM#114
ETGator1GC Hall of Fame
12,335
737
603

Apr 3, 2007
I'll take your challenge rather than leave this dangling:

"not FROM UF" means TO UF.

Who might want to transfer to UF? I'll make my SWAG and explain:

Jade Carey announced her withdrawal from Oregon State and her intention to return to elite competition before national finals where she competed for individual titles while representing Oregon State.

Jade Carey is close friends and trained for a couple of years with Riley McCusker. She may want to rejoin her friend and compete for national titles at the same time. Oregon State is not a team even with Jade Carey who can break into nationals the way Suni Lee impacted Auburn.

Therefore, my SWAG is Jade Carey is considering transferring to Florida from Oregon State. Since Jade is under the NCAA first-time transfer rule for winter sports, she has to announce by May 1 to be eligible for the 23 season. This will allow Jade to compete as an elite and then join UF with 3 years of eligibility remaining.

Bottom line, if someone is going to transfer to UF, the announcement will have to happen soon.

Last edited: Yesterday at 9:18 AM
Gator Bait!

 

YESTERDAY AT 10:04 AM#115
ETGator1GC Hall of Fame
12,336
737
603
Apr 3, 2007

I'll throw my second SWAG out there, not involving UF:
UCLA Head Coach Chris Waller resigned this week.

Jordan Chiles is close friends with Suni Lee and was seen on the floor rooting on Auburn at the national finals.

My second SWAG is Jordan Chiles announcing her transfer to Auburn to join Suni Lee which along with Olivia Greaves coming into Auburn this year could put Auburn close to the top of the list as a national championship contender.

My gut says this is far less likely than Jade Carey to UF because Chiles enjoys celebrity status in LaLa Land. Still, she is looking at UCLA missing nationals and now her head coach has resigned.

Gator Bait!

 

Leave to our not so good LSU friends at TigerDroppings to always have interesting things to say:

LSU Gymnastics Recruiting Thread | Page 64 | LSU Recruiting (tigerdroppings.com)

On pages 61-64, there are several transfer rumors:

Nora Flatley - UCLA
Mya Hooten - Minnesota
Victoria Nguyen - Georgia (Why not Rachel Baumann for her last year?)

No one has mentioned anything about Jade Carey or Jordan Chiles. My SWAGs must be pretty far out there.

 

Jade Carey is training and competing for elite team competition.

 

THURSDAY AT 1:25 PM#107

ApexNCGC Hall of Fame
13,502
16,451
3,173
Apr 8, 2007
NC
Now we wait and watch for news on whether the seniors come back. Of course, Trinity is the key, but Nya, Savannah and Leah can provide solid contributions as specialists.

 

THURSDAY AT 2:10 PM#108
ETGator1GC Hall of Fame
12,340
737
603
Apr 3, 2007
Trinity seems like an almost certainty to me. She is representing UF, along with 5 other athletes, at an NIL related conference in Atlanta in mid-June. Although no details of her NIL have been released except who she has her NIL with, she does have an existing NIL contract.

If Leah comes back and I hope she does, please keep her on her specialty only, balance beam. Leah is sharp cookie. She may already have other plans for her career.

Gator Bait!

 

We'll find out soon enough. Being a winter sport, athletes have to announce by May 1. That is probably why so many rumors are circulating.

As I said, my guess was a SWAG, but I'd love to see Jade Carey make her way from elite competition into UF. Even though she left Oregon State to train for elite competition, I think she still has to announce by May 1.

Mya Wooten is right up there with the other top Minnesota gymnast. She is awfully talented. I think she was a sophomore in the 22 season so she would be able to compete with UF for the 23 and 24 seasons.

I don't remember anything about Victoria Nguyen, but I think she was a freshman in the 22 season. Georgia was such a dumpster fire that I only watched when we faced them in Athens.

Apparently, senior Nora Flatley has looked at UF, Arkansas, and Michigan. However, with the possibility of UCLA poaching Arkansas' HC, her thoughts about leaving UCLA may not happen. I'd take her for 1 year in a New York minute.

 

I tend to agree, but I did acknowledge it was a SWAG.

Unless something breaks that we don't know about, there may be no transfer(s) in. The date to announce as I understand it is May 1 which is tomorrow.

 

As a winter sport, the ladies do have deadlines they have to observe if they want to transfer, May 1 to enter the portal and must enroll by July 1. Is there a women's gymnastics transfer portal we can look at? I think these things have to be done in the light of day, but not sure on that.

EDIT:

I looked all over for a college women's gymnastics transfer portal. I didn't find one even with the NCAA. I did find this site:

Who do you think is entering the transfer portal? : Gymnastics (reddit.com)

It seems to be a go to site for both college and elite women's gymnastics. The lady athletes make posts there. Things of note posted there in the last few days:

1. Mya Hooten announced she is not transferring out of Minnesota.

2. Natalie Wojcik of Michigan announced she is returning for a 5th year.

3. Somebody posted a picture of Leah Clapper working out on the beam today and speculated if she might be returning for a 5th season.

4. Victoria Nguyen has confirmed she is transferring out of Georgia. Rumor Alert: Speculation is she is headed to Florida. In another post, she commented about her UGA coach yelling at her a lot for no reason. In yet another post, an UGA assistant coach has been relieved of duties.

Again, the athletes have to announce entering the portal that I can't find that exists by end of day on May 1. This site should be interesting for the next day as it is possible the athletes will announce public decisions on transfers here.

 

April National Team Camp:

Women's National Team members gather for April camp

The roster of attendees in alphabetical order - Leanne Wong is the only team member who attended representing their university. A UF coach was there to boot. Notice that Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles are representing their training schools:

• Ciena Alipio, Maplewood, Minn./Midwest Gymnastics Center
• Charlotte Booth, Clermont, Fla./Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics
• Jade Carey, Phoenix, Ariz./Arizona Sunrays
• Jordan Chiles, Vancouver, Wash./World Champions Centre
• Nicole Desmond, Wind Gap, Pa./First State Gymnastics
• Addison Fatta, Wrightsville, Pa./Prestige Gymnastics
• Jayla Hang, Bellevue, Wash./Pacific Reign Gymnastics
• Shilese Jones, Auburn, Wash./Ascend Gymnastics Center
• Katelyn Jong, Allen, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
• Levi Jung-Ruivivar, Woodland Hills, Calif./Twin City Twisters
• Myli Lew, Belmont, Calif./San Mateo Gymnastics
• Nola Matthews, Gilroy, Calif./Airborne Gymnastics Training Center
• Zoe Miller, Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
• Zoey Molomo, Frisco, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
• Elle Mueller, Ham Lake, Minn./Twin City Twisters
• Ella Kate Parker, West Monroe, La./Cincinnati Gymnastics
• Michelle Pineda, Allen, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
• Joscelyn Roberson, Texarkana, Texas/North East Texas Elite Gymnastics
• Simone Rose, Sammamish, Wash./Pacific Reign Gymnastics
• Katelyn Rosen, Boerne, Texas/Twin City Twisters
• Audery Snyder, Annapolis, Md./First State Gymnastics
• Izzy Stassi, North Royalton, Ohio/Gym X-Treme
• Tiana Sumanasekera, Pleasanton, Calif./West Valley Gymnastics
• Leanne Wong, Overland Park, Kan./University of Florida
• Gabby Van Frayen, Lewis Center, Ohio/Gym X-Treme
• Lexi Zeiss, Omaha, Neb./Twin City Twisters

 

Just in case UF picks up Victoria Nguyen:

Victoria is a former national team member who underperformed her abilities at UGA. I suspect things didn't go to her liking in Athens.

Injuries? Don't know, but she didn't begin to perform until after the first few meets of the 2022 season.

She would likely be a reclamation project for the Florida coaches and her new teammates. She has all around skills, but her best events are bars and beam. If it was more coaching than performer at UGA, she would be a good addition to the Gators team. She was at UGA for 2 seasons so she would be a junior with UF. She is mentioned to be friends with Morgan Hurd.

 

Norah Flatley, UCLA, is rumored to be in the transfer portal with a speculated transfer to an SEC school, likely Arkansas or Florida. Norah if she comes to UF would be a senior with one year to compete.

 

Leah Clapper is a Super Senior!

leahclapper5 on Instagram: watch until the end @gatorsgym #gatorsgym #ncaagym #gogators #collegegymnastics #floridagators

Here is a toast to Leah going out with a national championship and a couple of more 10s on the beam in 2023.

 

Our friends at Tiger Droppings say Victoria Nguyen has a checkered injury career but should be good for bars and beam. Besides, being friends with Morgan Hurd, they say she is also close with someone at Ohio State. We'll see. JMHO, if UF wants her, she's a Gator.