Leah Stephens decommitts from Florida State, goes to NC State

An NLI is binding. The ramifications are that an athlete will miss a season.

My understanding is that if FSU agrees to release her from her NLI, she will be free to participate.

One wonders if ms stephens is getting “good counsel” on these decisions…

Yo, bro, get over it. She’s not missing a season.

After this season is over, are all these girls flocking in to Raleigh who won’t crack the top 7 this year going to be disappointed when they don’t win another ncaa XC title?

I was merely answering his question.

Good point, with over 50% of marriages ending in divorce, 'til death do we part' commitments ain't what they used to be here in roaring 20's USA.

The other side of the coin, however, is that in the workplace most simple employment contracts have a 2 week notice period, offering easy opportunity to change jobs for better pay or opportunity. A series of successful lawsuits against NCAA have made the college athlete much more like an employee with way more flexibility. As other posters have noted, coaches have even more ability to make quick moves.

They lose Bush and Chmiel. Tuohy could return but unlikely. Amaris T may have another year of eligibility. She's listed as a junior but ran 2 5Ks for Alabama in 2019. It will be interesting to see what progress the underclassmen make this year. They also always seem to get a quality grad transfer each year.

Correct. I signed with UF and they refused to release me from the NLI if I was signing with another SEC school.

The NCAA system is huge and a real money-maker (talking football & basketball mainly); Commitment day where the top HS'ers sign their NLI is shown on ESPN. XC/T&F commits might get some ink in the local paper. So a IG announcement by Ms Stephens is only seen by LRC, unfortunately.

The main issue discussed in many other posts is if Henes/Chmiel/Tuohy era lifts NC State to perennial contender status, or if they regress to 'just being a regional force'.

Coach Henes now has reliable pipelines in NY, PA, OH and NC kids who want to stay home. The plethora of Masters Degree options make them an easy choice for grad transfers. Now national recruits are also being attracted to the program - Stephens MD, Michalak CO, Hall AZ, so it would seem they are in a good place.

Transfers out - of course there will be transfers out. Remarkably only 2 in the recent era and both leaving on positive terms with program. It appears the team environment is good and runners are happy making prs and training there.

Winning a post Touhy title? No guarantees but Rauber, Hartmann, Stephens, Napoleon, Putnam, Quarzo, Hall, Michalak keeps NC State top 5 for another block of years.

Don’t be so sure…though you’d like to think so

2 of these girls are pure middle distance runners and will not affect their scoring. The rest are unproven or have already shown their better days are behind them.

I dont know if those runners alone are top 5 especially considering we havent seen any of them run college XC except for Rauber, though Hartman was impressive on the track.

But one thing to keep in mind is that while yes NC State is losing a lot next year (possibly all of Tuohy/Chmiel/Tyynismaa/Bush/G. Quarzo/Loveys/Howlett), the silver lining in that is it means they will have a crap ton of scholarship money to play with in the transfer portal next summer and i'd expect to be very active. They've been big on adding transfers for a while now and next year they will need some more veteran leadership with what they are losing. The quality they can bring in will really show if runners outside the program believe in Henes to keep them at the top without Tuohy/Chmiel, so it will be interesting to watch and see what happens.

The girls only running 6k keeps a lot of middle distance athletes relevant in XC. Maybe not as freshman but later on in their careers they can absolutely be factors depending on training. Napoleon looking like she'll focus on the Steeple should also help with endurance.

I completely agree with you on the unproven part though.

You sound so sure. For example Anna Camp was basically a 400/800 runner in hs who became 2 time AA in XC at BYU. But who of the bolded runners best days are behind them? 5 are in hs and all but Hall who had no results in 2023 seem to still be getting faster while the 3 at NC St have progressed over the last year. But of course, no guarantees.

I'm usually the one warning you have to get 5 to the line fit and healthy, but I'd bet on this group to come top5 in the '24-'27 years. They all run xc and I don't know who's regressing at this point? From this group of 8, someone will step up to be good and some won't get better, but 8 is a lot and that doesn't count lesser recruits, and transfers.

Discus: a round plate-like object that is thrown for sport

Knowing Leah, I can bet the loss of Mires from the FSU program was a major factor..and NC State started to realize that Leah has a huge upside in the higher distances (5k, 6k etc) I do feel bad for the FSU program they invested a spot for Leah and now will have to find a replacement but Leah's progress has been more than incredible and I believe we are still just seeing just the tip of the iceberg.. She has an immense work ethic and a competitive nature 2nd to none.. She accomplishes most things she sets out to do and I believe in the near and not too distant future Leah will be a major contributing factor for NC State's continued dominance in the realm of women's cross country and distance.. Good Luck Leah!! Coach H