The practice fields at a campus in Bradenton, Florida, which is roughly 40 minutes south of Tampa, are well-kept and resemble those of a Division I program rather than a high school. Early in the morning, the weight room is humming. Filming sessions go off without a hitch. And if you pay close attention, you might be witnessing a potential first-round pick make a handoff in front of several dozen scouts who have discreetly driven down from wherever scouts make drives on any given afternoon.
If IMG Academy was ever a secret, it is no longer. However, the numbers associated with its name have recently increased to the point where even the most seasoned football fans find it hard to ignore. IMG has produced 25 NFL Draft picks over the past ten years, more than any other high school program in the nation. Not in Florida. within the nation. This statistic, which was put together by MaxPreps and extensively disseminated prior to the 2025 draft, places the Ascenders in a category with no true comparisons.
In a sense, the institution itself is what makes it stranger. IMG is not your typical neighborhood school where football families from different generations support a Friday night ritual. It is a full-service athletic academy that serves as a training center, boarding school, and, in more recent years, a legitimate route to professional sports. The approach has drawn families who are prepared to move or just send their teenagers across state lines in search of a setting that values athletic development just as much as it does academics. To be honest, it’s still worthwhile to find out if that model truly represents something new in American sports development or if it’s just a well-funded continuation of what has always taken place behind closed doors in elite athletics.
Football talent has long been abundant in the state of Florida. With 16 draft selections over the previous ten years, St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale came in second on that list, while American Heritage in Plantation came in third with 12. Florida’s climate, year-round training culture, and dense population all play a part. However, IMG’s output is unique even in that setting. At least not in the documented era of the current NFL draft, it’s possible that no single pre-collegiate institution has ever gathered this much talent destined for the professional ranks in one location.
Detroit’s Cass Tech merits a special place in this discussion. With eight draft selections over the previous ten years, it tied for fifth place on the national list, and there’s something real and comforting about that. Cass Tech is not a private school. The football program at this public magnet school on Detroit’s east side has produced NFL players thanks to a combination of coaching, community, and the unique toughness that seems to come from that city regardless of what anyone builds or spends. The fact that the two programs—one a Detroit public school and the other a nationally recruited boarding institution—are on the same list raises intriguing questions about the league’s remaining options.
For a few years now, Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas has drawn criticism in recruiting circles for ranking fourth with ten draft picks. Even though Vegas isn’t traditionally a football town, Gorman continues to produce players at a rate that challenges preconceived notions about talent and geography.
It continues to return to Bradenton, though. In ten years, twenty-five picks. The facilities are real, the coaches are qualified, and the recruiting network that brings talent to IMG runs at a level that most college programs would be jealous of. Walking around the campus, one gets the impression that the distinction between high school and pre-professional training has become much more hazy. That isn’t necessarily a critique. However, it’s a question worth considering.
Among other things, the NFL Draft is a ledger. It reveals the source of talent, and more often than not, that ledger points to a section of Florida’s coastline where someone made the decision to construct something different years ago. The question of whether every program in the nation can or ought to use that model is a completely different one. The scouts continue to visit Bradenton for the time being. The picks continue to come in.
