What is the IMG Academy, and why did Blazers draft pick Anfernee Simons go there?
Portland Trail Blazers fans are getting to know first-round draft pick Anfernee Simons. Doing so requires knowing a little about the IMG Academy.
We’re starting to learn a little bit more about Anfernee Simons, whom the Blazers chose with the 24th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. But what do we know about the IMG Academy, the prep school where Simons last played?
What the heck is the IMG Academy, anyway?
The answer to that question requires a trip back into the not-so-distant past. And it requires that you, dear reader, shift gears from basketball to tennis.
Nick Bollettieri and IMG
Tennis coach Nick Bollettieri opened the aptly named “Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy” in 1978 near Bradenton on Florida’s west coast. The list of students who passed through Bollettieri’s academy is impressive, indeed: Monica Seles, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova, Boris Becker, to name a few.
In 1987, IMG bought Bollettieri’s academy. IMG, based in New York City (and originally known as the International Management Group) calls itself a “global leader in sports, events, media and fashion.” Over the next couple of decades, IMG added a bunch of other sports to its program: soccer, baseball, golf — and basketball.
Today, the IMG Academy is both an athletic and academic college preparatory program, boasting that it’s “a multi-sport training destination that has hosted, trained and taught some of the world’s top athletes.”
Selective and Prestigious
According to their website, “IMG Academy is one of the world’s most prestigious boarding schools and admits a limited amount of students annually from a large pool of qualified applicants.”
The application process for middle schoolers includes a questionnaire. Queries include, “If you could end any one problem in the world, what would it be?” And, “If you could live inside any video game, which would you choose?”
And it’s expensive. The “Student-Athlete Tuition Package” for post-grad work — which is what Simons did — is $75,650 for an academy year.
According to the IMG Academy’s “FAQ – Admissions,” they don’t offer scholarships, although they do have “a limited amount of financial aid available.”
The Academy also has this to say about how good you have to be at a particular sport to be accepted to IMG:
"(A)ll of our sport programs share a common denominator in that athletic performance is not the determining factor in acceptance. Most importantly, all prospective student-athletes are required to have a passion for their sport and a motivation to reach their full potential."
Anfernee Simons
So how did Portland’s first-round draft pick end up at IMG?
Simons, an “electrifying” and “prolific” baller in his home state of Florida, graduated from Orlando’s Edgewater High in 2017. He then chose to attend IMG for a prep school — or “post-grad” — year.
But why?
Here’s what Simons told The Orlando Sentinel in July 2017:
"I visited (IMG) and it’s a better opportunity (than West Oaks Academy in Orlando). The facilities are great. I’ll probably take a class or two while I’m down there and it will help me develop."
And yet that doesn’t quite answer the question, does it? Why not go straight to college? Simons originally planned to attend the University of Louisville; he accepted a scholarship in 2016. But after scandals rocked the Cardinals and head coach Rick Pitino, Simons had a change of heart.
Baller
But he was still a highly coveted basketball player and was therefore still being heavily recruited. Florida, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Tennessee all wanted him.
Simons turned them all down.
By attending IMG rather than attending college, Simons says he could focus on basketball.
“I had an opportunity to get better (at basketball) multiple times throughout the day,” he told the Washington Post. “I feel like in college you got three classes a day. That’s a big thing — a lot of time. That’s basically time that I was able to spend in the gym getting better.”
His coach at IMG, John Mahoney, perhaps unsurprisingly, agrees.
“Why wouldn’t you do something like (attend IMG)?” Mahoney said in that same WaPo story. “If you’re that high caliber of player, you could spend a year preparing, use our facilities and all the personal development resources, and at the end of the day, you go, ‘OK, am I ready to make that jump?’ I think it’s a no-brainer.”
‘One-and-Done’
With the NBA considering eliminating the so-called “one-and-done” rule, Simons may be what the WaPo calls “one of the last of his kind.” Meaning that — not far in the future — talented players will likely once again opt to go straight to the NBA, rather than attending one year of college or one year at a prep academy, such as IMG.
Simons and his IMG coach certainly seem to think his prep year did more for him than one year of college would have done. And Simons is hardly the only player to emerge from IMG’s basketball program. Other notable IMG basketball players: Michael Beasley, Erick Dampier, and Dwight Powell.
Simons declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft this past March, telling ESPN:
"After discussing the matter with my parents, I have decided to forgo the opportunity to play in the NCAA and to instead enter the NBA draft. I am very thankful for the support I received at IMG Academy and from the NCAA coaches who recruited me. I am ready and excited to pursue my dream of playing in the NBA."
Blazers
When the Blazers selected Simons 24th overall, that dream was one step closer to reality. Whether or not Simons’ complicated path to the NBA — and his basketball residency, if you will, at IMG — will help the Blazers remains to be seen.
Next: NBA Draft: How does Olshey think Thursday night went?
But one thing is clear: He’s got a smooth offensive game that loads of scouts and NBA experts over the years have said will translate well to the professional game. If that’s true — and if he puts on some weight and muscle — those of us in Rip City may soon be thanking IMG Academy for helping Simons hone his skills at their super-exclusive academy under the western Florida sun.