Simone Biles committed to UCLA before turning professional. She announced her verbal commitment to the University of California, Los Angeles, in August 2014 and later signed a National Letter of Intent.
Biles originally planned to defer college enrollment until after the 2016 Rio Olympics. That plan changed in July 2015, when she announced that she would become a professional gymnast. Going professional meant giving up her NCAA eligibility, so she never competed for UCLA.
The distinction between committing and attending is important. Biles was genuinely committed to UCLA, but she did not enroll as a varsity gymnast. Her decision followed the traditional trade-off in elite gymnastics: preserving college eligibility or accepting professional opportunities and endorsements before the Olympics.
UCLA is also a frequent source of confusion because many prominent American gymnasts have competed there, including Olympic champion Jordan Chiles. Biles’ connection to the school was a recruiting commitment, not an NCAA career.