One of the first things LSU gymnastics associate head coach Jay Clark sees when he enters his office each morning is a white dry-erase board on the wall opposite his desk. He sometimes refers to it as the “war board.” 
On the board are names of more than 40 club gymnasts scattered across the nation. College recruiters in other sports may have identical practices, but that’s where the similarities in the ongoing recruiting battle ends. 
There has been a growing trend in recent years of women’s collegiate gymnastics programs recruiting club gymnasts early in their careers, usually as they’re entering high school. 
The new method has resulted in student-athletes making verbal commitments at progressively younger ages. According to CollegeGymFans.com, there are 187 gymnasts who have verbally committed to universities in 2016 and 2017. 
So while University High’s Dylan Moses made headlines when he verbally committed to the LSU football program in September of his freshman year, such practices have become the norm in collegiate gymnastics. 
Clark isn’t a fan of the new trend. 
“In a sport where you’re concerned about body type and maintaining a level of athleticism as a gymnast ages, it makes no sense for us to be committing ninth graders, yet that’s what we’re doing nationwide,” Clark said. “In my mind, recruiting is no longer recruiting. It’s really a roll of the dice. But we’re forced to play that game, or else we lose out.”
According to Article 13.1.1.1 of the NCAA Division I Manual, coaches are restricted from contacting prospective student-athletes or their legal guardians until July after their junior year of high school.
Given the NCAA’s heavy restrictions, college coaches are forced to recruit through different avenues, like consulting a gymnast’s club coach. According to LSU coach D-D Breaux, the undesired recruiting methods thoroughly limit what coaches can learn about the gymnasts they’re pursuing. 
“Recruiting kids so early isn’t a good thing, but it’s something that happens,” Breaux said. “The only thing we can evaluate is the gym they come from, their fundamental gymnastics and their strength and flexibility level. So there’s some real guesswork that has to go on.”
In May 2013, Clark presented a proposal to the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women to address the situation. Clark said the proposal was meant to eliminate all on- or off-campus contact with recruits until September of their junior year to help prevent gymnasts from verbally committing so early in their careers. 
The proposal passed in a vote, but Clark said the NCAA has yet to take action.  
However, the newest recruits who will compete for the Tigers next season are two exceptions to the rapidly growing national trend. Incoming freshmen Myia Hambrick and Erin Macadaeg waited until their junior years to commit, but it wasn’t due to a lack of talent. 
Hambrick is the highest-ranked level 10 gymnast in Georgia. She competed in the Level 10 State Championship on March 22 and won titles in all four events, helping her capture the all-around crown. Hambrick also won the floor title in the 2013 Junior Olympics Championships. 
But unlike her peers, Hambrick waited until October of her junior year to commit to LSU. 
“I don’t know why everyone commits so early, and it kind of confuses me,” Hambrick said. “Whenever you commit your freshman year, you don’t really know what’s going to happen in the next four years. So I just wanted to weigh all my options to figure out exactly where I wanted to be.” 
Macadaeg, who lives in California, has experienced an equally successful 2014 season. She has performed in seven different competitions this season, capturing four all-around crowns. She’s also won individual titles in more than half of the events she’s competed in. Macadaeg also claimed a 2014 state title in the all-around. 
Going to college across the country was not something Macadaeg envisioned when she was younger. But like Hambrick, Macadaeg also waited until her junior year before she verbally committed, and she said it helped her make a well-informed decision. 
“The only thing holding me back from committing to LSU was because it was so far away from home,” Macadaeg said. “When I was younger, I always thought I’d stay close to home, but now I feel like it would be a good experience to move away. I definitely feel like I made a better decision since I waited.” 
The recruits’ mutual decision to wait before verbally committing also benefited their soon-to-be coaches. By building relationships with the gymnasts before they committed, Clark said the staff has a deeper understanding of their respective personalities, and they believe the pair ideally matches the type of student-athletes they’re searching for.   
“We try to recruit the person as much as the gymnast, so we got to know Myia and Erin in a better way because we signed them in a more appropriate time in their high school lives,” Clark said. “We got to learn what they’re about and their personalities a little better. So I’m excited about the quality of people we’re getting, not just their gymnastics.”