On the first day of Christmas Ultiworld gave to me...the top prospects of the 2025 season!
December 12, 2024 by Edward Stephens in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2025 college season is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.
It’s time to unwrap some presents as we introduce the 12 Days of College Ultimate. For the next 12 days, we will be releasing one gift per day, though don’t count on getting any holiday fowl: it’s all college ultimate. From highlight videos to player chatter to a season predictions, we’ve got a little something for everyone. On the first day of the 12 Days of College Ultimate, we highlight some of the top new recruits joining the ranks of college ultimate.
With the recent-year spread of high-level youth ultimate across the continent, the formula for collegiate program success increasingly leans on recruiting alongside player development. More and more, talented players hit the ground running to make an immediate impact on the team. Who are these players? Which programs are poised to benefit? What should we expect to see on the field?
The list that follows is hardly comprehensive. With so many star youth players set to make college debuts, how can it be? Nor is it a ranking. Think of it as a taste of the future and a conversation starter to introduce just a few of the players we’ll be talking about for years to come. And if your favorite prospect or school doesn’t appear below – sorry Middlebury, UC San Diego, Michigan, Vermont, Oregon State, Carleton, and at least a dozen others – it’s also an excuse to hype them up on socials with the appropriate amount of all-in-good-fun indignation.
So, let’s get to know a few of the fresh names likely to have an outsize effect on college ultimate in 2024.
Sam Grossberg (Georgia Tech A Tribe Called Tech)
At this point, Sam Grossberg hardly needs an introduction. Our Deep Look duo Charlie and Keith regularly lose their minds over him on air, he has been a standout on Philadelphia-area club teams (Phoenix FC, AMP, Ghostbusters) for years now, and he was just named to represent Team USA Mixed at U24 Worlds next summer. So we already know he’s good. What’s intriguing about 2025 is the opportunity he brings as a potential spark for a Georgia Tech program that could finally burst into national relevance. This new partnership between player and school just might be the perfect circumstance for instant stardom.
Milo Brown (Wesleyan Vicious Circles)
D-III programs don’t get nearly as many top recruits as D-I programs, so when they do land one, it has the potential to make enormous waves. And that’s just what the Vicious Circles have in Milo Brown. Ranked ‘most frisbee’ by a scientific study performed at this year’s High School National Invite, the Lincoln product – and now U24 selectee – has the potential to tip the scales of D-III Nationals toward the Metro East, possibly as soon as 2025.
And not only because they can do incredible stuff like this:
Ultiworld’s Play of the Week is Presented by @TokayUltimate!
Milo Brown gets emphatic bookends for Seattle Seven Hills in their YCC finals win! pic.twitter.com/dp5K9Kgdjg
— Ultiworld (@Ultiworld) October 13, 2023
Cedar Hines (Western Washington DIRT)
Major freshmen recruits typically arrive to campus with a lot of positive attributes – athleticism, confidence, throwing skill, attitude – but rarely do they arrive with the level of poise already demonstrated by Cedar Hines. He was unflappable in big moments for Seattle Sockeye this past club season, and he will be an immediate leader for a program on the rise. Between the world class experience he gained in 2024 – U20 worlds with Team USA, club Nationals – and the built-in chemistry he’ll already have with brother Ocean Hines and Elijah Diamond, expect Hines to help DIRT catch up to the rest of a competitive Northwest.
Sanam Rozycki-Shah (UC San Diego Dragon Coalition)
There’s an arms race going on in the West, and D-Co are right at the heart of it. After nabbing one of the best handling prospects last year in Margot Nissen, they get two of the better downfield playmakers this season. You probably already know about grad transfer Tori Gray. But what do you know about Sanam Rozycki-Shah? Our own reporter Jake Thorne has compared her to Camille Wilson, and she was the co-leading FMP goal scorer1 for Team USA Mixed’s gold medal campaign at WJUC over the summer. Already a defender and receiver par excellence, she has the potential to help push UCSD back toward the title-sphere.
Elliot Hawkins (Colorado Mamabird)
Elliot Hawkins is the latest hot release from one of the most quietly elite youth scenes in the country: Lexington, Kentucky. He was one of the most productive players for the gold medal-winning Team USA Open at WJUC, and projects to be an immediate plug-and-play O-line pillar for a Mamabird team that graduated a few major pieces. Wait, did I write ‘projects’? That’s putting it too mildly: I’ve already seen him play for Mamabird at this year’s Classic City Classic. We can retire the projections on this one, because the promise has become a reality. For my money, he was the most impressive freshman at the tournament.
Katie Sanders (Georgia Tech Wreck)
What’s this? Georgia Tech meriting a second mention in the same pre-season college ultimate article? Is this the same Georgia Tech that, across both divisions, can only boast a single trip to Nationals in three decades? Yep, and that’s the power of good recruiting. Sanders is far and away the Southeast’s frontrunner for Rookie of the Year thanks to her high-floor, high-ceiling all-around skill set. If CCC was any indication, she’s already a focal point and leader for Wreck. Look for her to be a key figure as they try to knock off Georgia and reach Nationals for the first time since their only trip in 1992.
A previous version of this article stated that Eva Hayes would play for Texas Melee in 2025. While it is true that Hayes is an excellent young player to watch, the information about her potential college ultimate career was incorrect, and we regret the error.
tied with Petra Radmanovic ↩
