No. 1 overall recruit — and Utahn — Avery Neff reaffirms her commitment to Utah gymnastics
Avery Neff will be a Red Rock. Tomorrow.
Neff, the No. 1 overall women’s gymnastics recruit in the country for 2024, per College Gym News’ rankings, reaffirmed her commitment to the University of Utah’s program in an Instagram post on Tuesday, ahead of national signing day on Wednesday.
“I’m so beyond excited to sign my National Letter of Intent tomorrow!” Neff wrote. “So grateful for this opportunity! Can’t wait to be a future Red Rock!”
Neff is the highest rated women’s gymnastics prospect ever, since College Gym News began rating gymnasts in 2020, and the headliner in Utah’s No. 4-ranked 2024 signing class.
A South Jordan native and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Neff chose to attend Utah over rival gymnastics powers Oklahoma, LSU, Florida and Alabama.
She was willing to leave Utah for school, telling Inside Gymnastics’ Ashlee Buhler, “A lot of colleges don’t even come out to Utah (to recruit) because they assume because we’re LDS and so family-oriented that we would never leave Utah. My coaches were like, ‘Please don’t get that (impression). They will leave!’ There was a part of me that thought maybe I shouldn’t go to Utah just so I wouldn’t get the comments.”
Ultimately, though, competing at Utah was her dream.
“I met (Florida Gator commit) Danielle Ferris’ mom and my mom had asked her mom, ‘How did Dani know that she wanted to go to Florida?’ And she said, ‘When she was younger she always knew she was going to be a Gator.’ And so then I thought of myself and I thought, ‘That’s kinda how I was!’ I was like, ‘I’m always going to be a Red Rock.’ That’s what I wanted to be!” Neff told Buhler. “I wanted to be a Red Rock and I wanted to have my billboard up by the highway. It’s always been my dream!”
Related
Neff has had no shortage of success during her club gymnastics career, and recently won the all-around title at the Level 10 national championships in May. She was notably co-champion at the Nastia Liukin Cup this year, an event where she finished in the top five in every event.
In all, Neff has won seven national titles over the last three years, including two all-around championships.
Praise for Neff is easy to find, with College Gym News’ Talitha Ilacqua and Jenna King writing, “Neff is an exceptional all-arounder who will be expected to contribute to every lineup from day one. The Red Rocks will make particularly good use of her Yurchenko 1.5 on vault, which won her a perfect 10.0 last year, and of her vast range of difficulty on bars and floor, where she boasts career highs of 9.900.”
Utah is also expected to sign fellow five-star recruit Zoe Johnson, the No. 7 overall recruit in 2024.
Five-star Utah commit Clara Raposo, the No. 11-rated recruit in 2024, has deferred joining the Red Rocks for a year in order to compete at the Paris Olympics next summer.
