Men's Gym Announces 2024 Early Signing Class

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics head coach Mark Williams announced the signing of Alex Deubler and Nicolas Cruz to national letters-of-intent during the November signing period.

Deubler and Cruz are talented prospects with national and international competition experience. The duo will join the Sooners in the fall of 2024 to compete beginning with the 2025 season.

Alex Deubler/EVO Gymnastics/Sarasota, Fla.

Deubler comes to Oklahoma from Sarasota, Fla., where he attends Laurel Springs School and trains at EVO Gymnastics with coach Sergei Pakanich. Prior to moving to Florida, Deubler trained at WOGA in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with Pakanich. Deubler is a former Junior National Team member and competed at the 2022 and '23 International Junior Team Cup in Berlin, Germany. In '23 he was part of the gold medal-winning squad and won individual gold on floor exercise and high bar. In '22 he finished first on still rings and vault, and placed second in the all-around and on high bar.

Deubler qualified for the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in the Junior-17 division, competed at 2022 Winter Cup and the '22 Elite Team Cup. In 2018 and '19, Deubler took part in the Men's Junior Olympic National Championships. In the 2018 edition, held in Oklahoma City, Deubler won the parallel bars and finished second in the all-around. His mother is Liudmila Deubler.

"I see tremendous talent in Alex, having been a Junior National Team member," Williams said. "He is going to be an asset for our program as an all-arounder. He has tremendous artistry in his gymnastics, and I'm looking forward to incredible growth and to expand on his individual talents as he gets to Oklahoma."

Nicolas Cruz/Kinetic Gymnastics/Colorado Springs, Colo.

Cruz comes to OU from Colorado Springs, Colo., where he attends St. Mary's High School and trains at Kinetic Gymnastics with coach Andriy Stepanchenko. Prior to moving to Colorado, Cruz trained at HITS Gymnastics in Hawaii. He qualified for the 2023 Men's Development Program National Championships in Oklahoma City, where he tied for first on vault with a combined score of 28.400 and tied for second in the all-around with a combined score of 153.450. He also placed third on floor exercise (26.350) and pommel horse (24.350) and fifth on high bar (25.000). His parents are Daniel and Corazon Cruz.

"Nicolas has shown great potential and a tremendous amount of improvement over the past year," Williams said. "He looks to be coming into his own as a gymnast with a lot of new skills, and we're looking forward to developing his talent as he moves to the next level at Oklahoma next year."

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University of Oklahoma Athletics