re: Remove

I saw that Florida is in Baton Rouge on 1/18/19 according to their schedule and the Mardi Gras Invitational in Missouri is on Feb 15th according to the Utah Schedule. I am just so excited for this year.

Is Kai Rivers coming to LSU?

Isn't Caitlin Smith a 2019 commit? I guess she would sign with Kai if she is still a go.

She is but she hasn't training very much over these last two years and isn't doing much now. She is almost everywhere else but the gym these days


Frankly I question if she will ever compete or produce anything of significance at LSU unless things change quickly

she dealt with injuries recently but I was told recently told by a coach at her gym that she lost some of her drive/motivation. Maybe the injuries took its toll on her in that aspect.

Do schools pull their gymnastic scholarship offers very often when a long time commitment does not develop as anticipated. This seems to be one of the pitfall of recruiting 14 year olds.

How will the new recruiting rules affect recruiting of gymnasts prior to their junior years?

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Do schools pull their gymnastic scholarship offers very often when a long time commitment does not develop as anticipated. This seems to be one of the pitfall of recruiting 14 year olds.

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They do actually, or reduce the money amount, a verbal commitment is non binding. Until they sign the LOI, its verbal at this point. In Caitlin's case, she was one of the rising stars in her early elite career when she committed to LSU but injuries have plagued her along the way and has now been just competing as a level 10 gymnast.

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I agree with you. The lack of consistent training can be a gymnast's undoing.I'm anxious to see who else will sign with Kai this fall.

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Gymnastics is a brutal sport, if you aren't maintaining your training it will hurt you significantly. In Caitlin's case she was going through over a year of on and off training, and when she did train it was for a much shorter time

Someone else will be coming in with Kai, it won't just be her.

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Is the 12 total scholarships still in place?

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Yes, there are 12 full scholarships for each team that they can award to athletes. Bunniegene caught me there yes it’s head count but if there is less scholarship they can split to meet the 12 heads

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What effect do you see the new recruiting rules having on the way schools recruit. Seems the rules now virtually eliminate contacts with recruits until their junior year. Do they just communicate with intermediaries like coaches? Seems softball is still getting the 8th grade commitments, though.

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Every sport is different, gymnastics is a tricky one in particular because the girls are at their peaks and at such a high level at much younger ages, well if you are talking about elite athletes at least. NCAA has rules in regarding recruiting and kids taking unofficials

Starting this month, only kids who can undergo unofficials and officials are juniors and seniors beginning September 1st.

That said there are camps and stuff that go on on campuses so kids still get the gist of the program and the campus while there too. There is a lot of illegal recruiting that goes on in college gymnastics believe it or not. If the NCAA really cared some programs would be stripped of some of their titles

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What has been the typical age or grade level that gymnastic coaches will begin to assess possible recruits?

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Well its a little different for kids in level 10 vs kids in elite. You can get a much better gage on gymnasts at the elite level a little bit earlier on compared to your normal level 10/9 kids IMO. Kids in elite are already doing the hardest skills out there and some of their development is much further along. That comes from a much harsher training regimen too. College gymnastics is much easier than elite level. I would say around 15-16 you can get a very good read on kids. Some kids though are late bloomers and really turn it on towards the end.

The issue with kids in elite, while their gymnastics is much further ahead and are the best of the best, they are much more prone to injuries. Its impacted a lot of our gymnasts, Look at Lexie Priessman. She easily could be doing all around but her elite career beat her up so bad that she now only competes select events.

Finnegan deal with some elbow problems, Desiderio's ankles were shot, much more. Elite training regimen was too much for Bailey Ferrer and her body so she dropped back down to level 10.

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How important are the college's summer camps in the evaluation process? are they like football or do the coaches put more stock in videos and in person evaluations at meets and in practice?

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Camps are great ways for coaches to see what a kid brings to the table in person, there is a lot that is not seen in just regular meets. Sarah Edwards for example was found in camp. She had tremendous power and pretty good form and picked up on stuff rather quickly. So they were able to see the potential just from the camps. If you saw Edwards level 10 career, it certainly would not look like a kid who should be eyed on paper. I would say in person evaluations are much more important than just a regular routine at a competition. Usually the coaches want to watch the athlete train or compete in person to have a much better understanding of what a kid does well and not well.

Is splitting the scholarship something new? I’ve always read that gymnastics is a “head count” sport and scholarships can’t be split.

Actually my bad I think you are correct, I know in softball it’s not a head count


But.... if there is a limit in the scholarship money the school can hand out, they are allowed to split it

Yes 12 heads is the max

LSU sent recruiting mail to a 9 year old so that would put her in 3rd - 4th grade. I mean, why? Even I can say while being a huge fan wtf and eww. Make the madness stop. Not a good look.