“Forever Home”: After Going Through NCAA Gymnastics Drama, Selena Harris Finds Herself at Florida Gators

With 12 All-American titles and four Perfect 10s under her belt, Selena Harris is easily one of the country’s top gymnasts at the moment. However, months of tribulation about her future with UCLA have left fans scurrying to speculate about what fate holds for the 2024 Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. But finally, it seems like the 20-year-old won’t have to worry about the remaining two years of eligibility for her collegiate career.

Earlier this month, Harris entered the transfer portal, making it clear that the blue and gold leotard won’t be seen on her anymore. That followed the dramatic news of Harris’ dismissal from the team on May 14. Although UCLA never came clear about the reason, many speculated that her activities on social media brought this consequence. Nevertheless, the highly decorated gymnast has been a driving force in the Bruins’ overall satisfactory result last season, but while ending her time at UCLA might cause some heartbreaks, new opportunities await to compensate for the same.

In her latest Instagram post, Harris shared news of her finding a new camp for the upcoming NCAA and PAC-12 calendar. The caption of her post reads, “what do they say again?… it’s a GREAT DAY TO BE A GATORRRR” with the accompanying images revealing that Selena has joined hands with the SEC powerhouse Florida. While some may consider the Gators not to be on the same level as the Bruins, Harris is apparently in a good mood after the move.

“Found my forever home!“, wrote Selena on another social media platform as she shared the big news. Her uplifted spirit can be observed even in her IG post, where she can be seen celebrating the start of the new venture with her mother. On top of that, Selena has also joined a stacked roster where she can up her game significantly with the Olympic gold medalist Leanne Wong being her new teammate.

Understandably, some fans still won’t be supporting Harris’ decision wholeheartedly. And yet, while UCLA fans frown at the development, the star gymnast’s move was rather expected, given the developments in the past few days. It all started after the Bruins ended their last season on a rather disappointing note. Although Harris has always been on the right side of things when came to her own performance, things went south after the Bruins’ heartbreaking loss.

Selena Harris hasn’t been A-okay for quite a while

The 2024 NCAA Championships was a disaster for the UCLA women’s gymnastics team. On April 4, in Ann Arbor, the Bruins were trounced by Denver in the second round of the regionals and had to bid adieu to their national title race. However, Selena’s stellar performance on the balance beam still earned her an individual bronze medal from the tournament.

Even her final meet for the Bruins saw Selena clinching two Perfect 10s in March. She proved to be a reliable hand for the team in the hours of need. “I have my feet grounded, I feel more comfortable, I like having my team with me on my side.” Harris was heard saying in February. But things didn’t take long to change after UCLA’s exit from the NCAA championships.

After UCLA’s exit from the NCAA championship, Harris was observed liking comments from fans complaining about the Bruins’ dismal performance at the tournament. Moreover, when a social media handle posted about her entry to the transfer portal, Harris subtly acknowledged it by reposting it with a mysterious “shhhhh.” There is more to it.

Selena Harris also removed UCLA gymnastics from her profiles on X and Instagram, further thickening the plot. Some fans openly came out in support of Harris, lashing out at UCLA for dismissing its best gymnast for liking a couple of tweets about losing. But that did not change the course of things. Now that the reason for her frustration comes to the fore, hopefully, a brighter future ahead awaits the young Turk as she takes on new challenges on the road with her newfound colleagues.