On Thursday, April 18, SEC Freshman of the Year Lily Smith capped off her stellar rookie season by earning an impressive four All-America honors while competing as an individual qualifier at the NCAA national championships in Fort Worth, Texas. It was a star-making performance from the Georgia freshman, the highlight of a 2024 season punctuated by flashes of brilliance that hinted at the team’s enormous potential that was unreflected by its No. 18 finish in the final rankings. This was the third year in a row (fourth, if you count the abbreviated 2020 season) that the winningest program in NCAA gymnastics history finished well outside the nationals bubble.
Less than 24 hours later, University of Georgia Director of Athletics Josh Brooks announced that the program would be parting ways with seventh-year head coach Courtney Kupets Carter, the most distinguished Georgia gymnast of all time and one of the best collegiate gymnasts to ever compete. It was the first move in a six-day period of unprecedented plot twists that may ultimately reshape the landscape of Georgia gymnastics—if not college gymnastics altogether.
As then-assistant coach Ryan Roberts can attest, a whole lot can change in six days.
Roberts describes the following Thursday as one of the more…
