This season we've fully incorporated our recruit ratings into our consideration of each incoming class.  Simply adding the star ratings and rating these together to rank these teams won't work  Our star categories are too broad and our focus on quantitative assessments leaves a lot of differences unaccounted for within the broad categories of the various star levels.  Therefore, some level of subjective evaluation needs to be placed in assessing the overall differences in the class. 

If you are interested in how we have developed our rankings, it is explained in detail in the section following the rankings.  It has been updated to explain the overall criteria versus other alternatives we have considered. 

This Year's Rankings

So, how did the teams stack up? Below are summaries of the Top Ten teams, some teams to note, and some selected individuals.

Each team summary starts with a table.  Click on the athlete's name to be taken to the Instagram or YouTube video collection for that athlete.  Following the table, we've summarized some of our rationale and highlighted some of the athlete's potential impact. 

The following abbreviations are used in the table:  WDPs = Women's Development Program L10 Nationals.  DNC - Did not compete or complete.  DNF - Did not finish (the season).  Results are primarily from the last two years and all assessments end when the athlete enters college.     

Here's the CollegeGymFans.com Top Recruiting Classes for 2024-2025 (be sure to click on the highlighted links to see video clips, where available):

 1. Oklahoma

OU slips past LSU to take the top spot in this year's rankings.  OU does not always land the top recruit or the most celebrated prospect, but often selects very strong gymnasts with excellent execution and amplitude that excel in OU's program.  This year's class is somewhat exceptional in that it includes top prospects that also are very well suited to excel as Sooners.  This year's class features a mix of elite talent like Fatta, former elite Mueller and top L10s Pederson and Slade.  They've all been very consistent performers and have, for the most part, avoided major injury issues and have shown strong momentum in 2024.  In addition, this class is also capable of big skills with strong execution and terrific form.    

2.  LSU

LSU's class is another outstanding one, featuring elite talents like Lincoln, Miller and Zeiss, and former elite Chio.  This class was headed for the top position in our rankings as soon as they initially committed.  However, new and existing injury issues have caught up with some of the top recruits (like Miller) and have impacted their training time and competitive readiness.  Lincoln is a high potential impact on FX and VT, as well as the AA, although she has been slowed in the past by injury.  Chio will lead the class out of the gate, as a potential AAer.  Zeiss is another one, as she works to adapt her sets to the NCAA and clean up her form during twisting.  In-state L10 Roberts brings a potential front pike half to the VT lineup.  The class remains a super high potential class, and could emerge as the highest impact set of recruits.  For now, they are slotted into #2. 

3.  Utah

Utah's class includes one of the nation's top L10s in Neff, another top L10 in Johnson, and two international elites, Raposo and Stickler.  It is a class that has climbed our rankings as Head Coach Carly Dockendorf added additional signees like British National team member Stickler.  Neff is a potential superstar, with the type of consistency, grace under pressure and execution to help lead the Utes back to the top of the podium.  Both Raposo and Stickler have battled back from injury but have shown remarkable progress.  Raposo has terrific form, flexibility and style while Stickler is capable of some big elite skills like a double layout on FX. 

4.  Florida

Florida's class got a big boost with the late addition of elite Ly Bui for January 2025.  We've seen this scenario before:  late adds like this is why we don't do a final ranking until late December, just prior to the start of the season.  Their top recruit, Blakely is easily one of the top athletes in this class.  Unfortunately, her latest injury, a torn Achilles', was suffered during last summer's Olympic Trials.  She was well on the path to a spot on the team, and the major injury was just devastating.  Bui qualified in two events for her first senior Championships in 2024.  She does train all four events and will have no problems adapting to the lower difficulty rigor of the NCAA.  Bruce is a strong L10 and former L10 National Team member.  Despite the injury concerns, this class still ranks #4 due to the high potential of these talented athletes. 

5.  Auburn

Auburn's class is headlined by two elites, Jong and Neal, supplemented by two strong L10s.  Neal has improved quite a bit since signing, adding difficulty and climbing the elite ranks.  That type of trajectory bodes well for success in college.  Jong was a standout junior who is also an exceptional UB worker.  She is slotted a potential AAer as a frosh for the Tigers.  Bell is a powerful top L10 with big skills on the leg events while Ahern has been a solid L10, rebounding well from an injury in 2023.   

6.  Stanford

Stanford welcomes a combination of international elites and strong L10s.  Jung-Ruivivar qualified to the Olympics via the difficult World Cup path.  She has exceptional toe point and execution, along with high level skills and captivating dance.  Soma hurt her knee in 2021 during the extensive Japanese 2021 Olympic trials, and took an extended period to recover.  She had been one of Japan's top prospects for their hometown Olympics.  She rebounded in 2024 with a strong comeback that showcased her combination of power, form and flexibility.  She was selected as an ACC Newcomer to Watch.  Walker, a L10 and an elite for Jamaica, rebounded from injury in '23 to competed strongly at the '24 WDPs.  Dugan has had consistent top level finishes at L10 Nationals, but has had some injury issues in the past.  Chang also came back from injury in '23, and like many in this class, also excels on UB.   Stanford takes a slow and conservative approach with their frosh, but this class is pushing ahead for a big lineup impact.

7.  Michigan

Michigan's huge incoming class features 7 athletes who have all finished at least 7th AA at the WDP L10 Nationals.  It has been rare to see a large class that is this accomplished, from top to bottom.  Leading the way are Diaz and Ranger.  Diaz uses consistent, clean execution to deliver top performances in high profile L10 meets.  Ranger has tremendous power (double layout) and great amplitude, and shows potential to be a standout.   Parenti has competed elite in Canada but also L10 in the US, and has excellent form.  Sanger is a rising L10 with a strong skillset who overcame consistency issues to make the L10 National Team in '24.  Davis is a clean and consistent L10 who will give the Wolverines some needed depth.  Kirchner and Fukami have been slowed by injury but have the potential to be strong contributors as well.

 8.  Alabama

Alabama's class is led by a quartet of L10 gymnasts with various ties to the elite program.  Clubmates Fuller and Walker both trained elite and made the L10 National Team via their clean execution and elegant style.  Both excel on UB and BB.  Kvamme competed at the World's representing the Philippines, and won two L10 National titles in 2023.  She brings a Yurchenko 1 1/2 and piked full-in to the Tide lineups, but is an eventual AA candidate.  Birt is a former junior elite who has success transitioned to L10, ending 2024 with a strong finish at the WDPs. 

9. PSU

Penn State has compiled a strong collection of five L10s that have continued to improve and climb the L10 ranks.  Leading the way is Leary, who has finished among the top L10s in the country.  She has strong L10 skill set with clean, consistent execution.  Kaempfer is a powerful vaulter (clean Yurchenko 1 1/2) who also showcases clean execution on all four events.  Monahan is another strong athlete from CGA, with clean execution on UB and a layout Kasumatsu full on VT.  She's finished in the top 6 AA at the WDP L10 Nationals the last two seasons.  Misiura and Latronica are both solid L10s with the ability to contribute and add depth across the events.  

10.  UCLA

UCLA nabs the last spot in our ranking, with four L10s and an emerging international elite.  Macy McGowan leads the way. She's rapidly improved the past two seasons and placed in the top two in all but BB at this year's Nationals.  She has big skills (Yurchenko 1 1/2, full-in) and an expressive style.  Webster-Longin has joined the Belgian National Team, and has been working to improve her difficulty for the more difficult elite requirements. Her execution, amplitude and form are her strong point, and she she won three titles at the '23 WDPs.  Fujisaka is another solid L10, and excels on UB (Pak, Van Leeuwen, double layout) and FX (front double full).  Like Webster-Longin, Jenkins brings another potential Yurchenko 1 1/2.   

Other Teams of Note

Two teams fell just outside of our Top Ten, with only very slight differences compared to teams that made the Top Ten.  The Top Ten teams shifted a lot over the past 18 months, with major injuries unfortunately coming into play.  Even gymnasts of equivalent ratings may vary in strengths and areas of improvement, and these are compared relative to their ability to post top scores at the NCAA level.  The two below are listed in no particular order:

Missouri

Missouri's talented class of five include three athletes with international elite ties.  Tanskanen is the Finnish national champion and was a former top L10.  She has a big layout Kasamatsu full on VT (10.0 SV),  Maloney to Gienger on UB and full-in on FX. Kelly has competed for Barbados and has continued to do well as a L10, with strong UB and FX (double Arabian) work.  Szeibert has also competed as an elite in Romania, and has notched two top 12 finishes at the WDP L10 Nationals.  Jackson is a powerful L10 who did not compete in 2024.  She's a two-time L10 National Team member. 

2.  Iowa

Iowa's class is headlined by a trio of top Canadian National Team members.  Tran is the 2023 Canadian AA Champion who uses a strategy of very clean execution, exceptional form and a unique style to maximize her scores.  She does lack some top level difficulty but has continued to upgrade her skills.  Like Tran, Lee was a member of the 2024 Canadian Olympic Team.  She excels on BB but has a complete AA program.  Turner came short in her Olympic run (2nd alternate), slowed in part by ankle issues, but combines higher level skills with good execution.  She brings a potential Yurchenko 1 1/2 to the lineup.    

Other Outstanding Individuals

There are a wide variety of potential future standouts.  Here are just a few:

5* Ava Stewart, Minnesota
A two-time Olympian, Stewart placed 19th in the all-around at the 2024 Olympic Games, after placing 3rd all-around, 3rd on uneven bars, and 1st on balance beam at the 2024 Canadian Championships. She also won a bronze medal on balance beam at the 2023 Pan American Games.  Her excellent flexibility and style will serve her well, and she'll be able to pare back excess difficulty to score well in the NCAA.  

5* Joscelyn Roberson, Arkansas
The senior US National Team member's high level of difficulty and dynamics could make her a future superstar for Arkansas and the type of athlete that can help push them to the next level. She excels on vault, floor exercise, and balance beam, and her weakest event, uneven bars, can be easily adjusted to excel under the much lower rigors of NCAA competition. 

5* Madison Gustitus, SJSU
Perhaps a surprise on this list, this stealth L10 from Legacy Elite is a two-time Top 5 AA finisher at the WDP L10 Nationals and a 2024 Nastia Cup qualifier.  She has good execution, good amplitude and some big skills like a full-in on FX.  She was also the BB co-champ at the '24 WDP L10 Nationals.  She's made much progress over the last two years, adding difficulty and improving execution.

4.5* Harlyn Tomlin, UGA
Tomlin placed 2nd on floor exercise (front full stepout to double tuck, Arabian double tuck dismount), tied for 5th on vault (pike front 1/2) and 3rd all-around at the 2024 WDP Level 10 Nationals. She also placed 5th on vault, 7th on floor exercise, and tied for 11th all-around at the 2023 WDP Level 10 Nationals.  She has the big skills and expressive style to be a huge fan favorite in Athens.

4.5* Ondine Anchompong
Achampong is unfortunately coming back from a torn ACL, an injury that derailed her almost-certain path to the 2024 Olympics, as one of the UK's top athletes. Achampong was the 2024 British champion in the all-around, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. She also placed 13th all-around at the 2023 World Championships and has the skill and execution worthy of one of the top gymnasts in the world.

There are many other potential future superstars, throughout the NCAA.  We invite you to check out the list of Newcomers or see our 2024 Recruit ratings. 

Background and a Word about our Methodology:

Assessing the strength of an incoming class is a challenging task.  In the past, we have considered a more quantitative approach that assessed meet placement and scoring.  Relying too heavily on scores is problematic for several reasons:  1.  Scoring variation exists in the club ranks, just as it exists in the NCAA.  Distinctions based on hundreds of a point can't be made when score variation adds 0.2 to 0.3 in uncertainty.  2.  Individual meets, especially those with event finals, may employ special rules or be in widely varying competitive environments (home gyms versus podium stadium meets).  3.  The rules in Level 10 and NCAA now differ significantly enough that bonus rules and compositional requirements can distort pure mathematical assessments.  These factors must be balanced by performance in head-to-head competition, in high stress head-to-head post-season meets with full, experienced judging panels, plus an evaluation of actual skill level and execution based on video.         

Predicting future success is also a challenging task.  There are many intangibles, such as how an incoming freshman adjusts to college, gels with the team or responds to new coaching styles.   Each new incoming class changes the dynamics within the team as a whole and there is no way for us to guess in advance how the dynamics will play out or contribute to overall team success.  The best we can do is look at the incoming class as a discrete unit.   We ask of ourselves; What does each athlete’s competition history, skills, execution and even injury history (if we know it) tell us about what she brings to the mix that makes up her incoming class?  Does the athlete have the potential to bring in scores of 9.85 to 9.9 or above?

Our methodology is based on a snapshot of each incoming class as they enter college for the first time.  In other words, we consider what we know about incoming frosh as they enter school in the fall.  For those joining their team mid-year, we consider what we know of them as of the time of their entrance in January.  Gymnasts that appear on the roster but are sitting out the year for any reason are counted.  However, gymnasts that are removed from rosters or retire before the start of the season are excluded.  Transfers are also excluded.  We set our timing to include all late signings as well as early graduations and mid-year starts.  This does produce more variation than if we stopped our evaluation after the early signing period or in the spring, but it also better captures trend and trajectory to make a more complete assessment.    

What we consider:

Competition History -  An athlete's competition results reveal how an athlete stands up to competition and how consistently she performs from one event to another, and meet to meet.   It is especially interesting to see how an athlete measures up against the competition in elite or rigorous Level 10 meets like the Nastia Liukin Cup and the Level 10 Nationals.  These meets typically involve more experienced judges, more consistent evaluation, head-to-head comparison and more pressure.  Decades of recruiting classes show that a strong history of top finishes in these major meets is a strong predictor of future NCAA success. 

Competition Trend -- The timing and trend of their success important.  Gymnasts that continue to rise in placement through their career more often than not hold that level or improve in college.  Continued success or even improvement over time also speaks to motivation, hard work and consistency.      

Skill and Routine Evaluation - Today, it is possible to view videos of an athlete either through online posts (e.g. YouTube.com, Instagram, Facebook) or meet coverage via streaming services or broadcast TV (e.g. FlipGym, Olympic Channel, etc).  Some college teams also give us peeks at preseason training videos.  We use these to get a look at the athletes’ skills and execution, and how their competition routines compare to NCAA requirements.  With significant differences between the NCAA code and the Junior Olympic (not to mention the Elite) code, gymnasts with stellar execution and no "built-in" deductions will have an easier time in the NCAA.  Gymnasts with FIG E skills, 10.0 Start Value (SV) vaults or exceptional levels of grace, expression or execution quality will also have an easier time posting scores of 9.9+.  On the other hand, under the L10 code, it is now possible to construct a routine that will get a strong L10 score (9.5+) and yet still be missing difficulty that will inhibit an athlete from getting the 9.85+ scores.  A highly difficult routine at the club level can merit a high score but still include minor but obvious execution errors that will hold back the score at the NCAA level.  In contrast, sometimes elite or high-level L10 gymnasts include skills that are in excess of the difficulty they need in the NCAA.  While elite gymnasts are heavily incentivized to add difficult skills, even in the Level 10 Development Program gymnasts are encouraged to add skills to avoid compositional deductions and get a 10.1 start value.  The risk/reward for adding these skills is pretty good, as long as no major mistake occurs.  However, a 0.05 or 0.1 execution deduction for an excess skill is a "10 killer" in the NCAA.  These excess skills are typically removed during college competition, unless they are 100% consistent, to maximize scoring potential.  Finally, in the case of elite gymnasts, some come to the NCAA missing special or compositional requirements that are important in the NCAA, like a qualifying dismount on UB or a two salto pass.  

Injury Status and History - Injury history is an unfortunate factor in recruiting.  Past major injuries like ACL tears, spinal problems and Achilles' tears can impact a gymnast's ability for an extended period of time.  Sometimes specific major injury information is available on an athlete.  Other times, a major injury or other break in training may be indicated by holes in a competition history.  To the extent that we can determine whether an injury history will potentially limit an athlete’s contribution over the course of her NCAA career, we factor that information into our ranking considerations.  We tend to view absences from competition before entering college negatively, unless otherwise explained.  Only injuries that occur before the start of NCAA training are included, including those after the date of signing.

Recruit Rating - the factors above have now been systemically integrated into our Recruit Rating system, starting with the Class of 2022.  This provides a primarily quantitative, standardized assessment for an individual recruit.  Teams are initially compared based on their composition of top-rated recruits, and then the ratings are further refined.

Potential Contribution - Ultimately, we place high value on recruits who have the potential to make some starting lineups and to consistently score 9.85 or better on their events. 

Balancing Class Size – We attempt to consider large incoming classes versus small classes.  A large incoming class, even if it is loaded with walk-ons and specialists, provides important depth and coverage on all events.   That depth can be especially important if a team suffers some key injuries.  A large class is also sometimes filled with exceptionally gifted specialists.  In contrast, a small class of, say, one or two exceptional all arounders can have just as much impact on their teams.  Over the course of time, a marquee athlete has the potential to bring in big scores of 9.95+ that can make the crucial difference to a team's overall ranking and success.  So, the size of recruiting class is factored along with our best estimate as to how the individual recruits will figure in lineups.