IMG ACADEMY CELEBRATES TRIUMPHANT YEAR OF ACADEMIC, ATHLETIC AND ALUMNI SUCCESS IN 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR

IMG Academy

Jun 17, 2024

BRADENTON, Fla. (June 17, 2024) – IMG Academy, the world’s leading sports education brand, had a year of unparalleled success in the 2023-24 academic year, emphasizing remarkable achievements in academic prowess, athletic excellence, and the continued success of its distinguished alumni.

Academics

IMG Academy and its student-athletes accomplished outstanding academic achievements during the 2023-24 academic year, solidifying its position as a global leader in sports education. Among the accomplishments:

• IMG Academy garnered recognition on the international stage being named a top-three finalist for the World’s Best School in the “Supporting Healthy Lives” category, marking the only finalist from the United States in the category.
• The graduating class of 2024 earned a remarkable 100 percent college acceptance rate. Notably, a record number of 10 student-athletes were accepted to Ivy League institutions, 20 student-athletes gained admission to nine colleges and universities listed on the US News top-25 colleges and universities, and three student-athletes were accepted to a United States Military Academy. As of IMG Academy’s class of 2024 commencement ceremony, 332 of its student-athletes committed to play collegiate athletics at Division I, II, and III and NAIA programs.
• The graduating class of 2024 held a weighted GPA of 3.67 and an unweighted GPA of 3.49, reflecting our student-athletes’ consistent academic achievements. Notably, 31 student-athletes graduated with high honors, maintaining a perfect cumulative GPA of 4.0, and 157 student-athletes earned honors with a cumulative GPA of 3.5. The class had 106 graduates who were members of the National Honor Society.
• The Valedictorian and basketball student-athlete, Gerard O’Keefe, graduated with an overall GPA of 4.89 and received several distinctions including AP Scholar with Distinction, AP Capstone Diploma, National Merit Scholar, Presidential Scholarship Nominee, and the Yale Book Award. The Salutatorian and soccer student-athlete, Trusten Lehmann-Karp, graduated with an overall GPA of 4.86, received the Harvard Book Award, and was a member of the National Honor Society.
• Tennis student-athlete Karin Kulijdian and football student-athlete Jackson Ashford, were awarded the inaugural Nick Bollettieri “Power of Passion Award.” These two student-athletes have demonstrated the same qualities found in IMG Academy Founder, Nick Bollettieri including unparalleled work ethic, leadership skills, coachability, perseverance, and infinite passion for their chosen sport.
• IMG Academy had two of its basketball student-athletes named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in seniors Michael ‘Gerard’ O’Keefe and Giorgio Vittorio Garuzzo. Over the past five years, more than five IMG Academy student-athletes have consistently received distinctions as National Merit Scholarship finalists, semifinalists, and commended students, showcasing the Academy’s sustained commitment to shaping the leaders of tomorrow.
• Soccer student-athlete Jason Pan achieved global recognition for being among 35 esteemed students worldwide who achieved a perfect score on the Macroeconomics AP exam. This accomplishment reflects IMG Academy’s commitment to academic excellence and the cultivation of top-tier talent.
• The fall 2023 National Letter of Intent (NLI) Signing Day witnessed an unprecedented number of college commitments for IMG Academy student-athletes, with 88 Division I commitments, three Division II commitments, seven Division III commitments, one Service Academy commitment, and one Historically Black College and University commitment. During the fall 2023 NLI Signing Day, four student-athletes committed to the admissions process for Ivy League institutions, exemplifying IMG Academy’s dedication to fostering excellence in academics and athletics simultaneously.
• The spring 2024 Commitment Day showcased the largest senior class in IMG Academy history. Inclusive of the fall signing day numbers 215 IMG Academy student-athletes committed to Division I programs, 24 committed to Division II programs, 53 committed to Division III programs, six will join NAIA programs, two will attend international schools, and nine student athletes attending Ivy League institutions.

IMG Academy continues to set the standard for academic excellence, and these achievements underscore its dedication to empowering student-athletes to excel both in the classroom and on the field.

Athletics

In the 2023-24 academic year, IMG Academy and its student-athletes were at the front of their sports as global leaders in sports development, with student-athletes and teams achieving extraordinary success across various disciplines. Notable accomplishments include:

Baseball

In 2024, IMG Academy baseball successfully achieved a home game win streak of 27 games, the longest in program history. The baseball program represented Team USA in the DRD International Baseball Academies Tournament. The team competed against nine other countries including the host country Puerto Rico. As of commencement in May, there were over 70 baseball student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college baseball programs.

Basketball

In 2023, IMG Academy basketball won several basketball tournaments and events across its boys and girls programs. Heading into 2024, both the boys varsity national team (ranked No. 5) and the girls varsity national team (ranked No. 7) were ranked inside the SC Next top-10. In 2024, the National girls basketball team made it to the finals of the Chipotle National Championship Tournament. Five IMG Academy basketball student-athletes were nominated for the McDonald’s All-American and Donovan Freeman became the eighth McDonald’s All-American in IMG Academy history. Darius Acuff played with the Team USA U18 National Team, took home the Gold, and was named MVP of the game. Felipe Quinones also played in the FIBA AmeriCup in Argentina with the Puerto Rico National team. As of commencement in May, there were over 60 basketball student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college basketball programs.

Football

In the 2023 season, IMG Academy’s national football team went undefeated and was named national champions by the National High School Football Forum, its varsity program won its first SSIA State Championship title and its post-graduate team won its second-consecutive national championship. Five of the national team student-athletes competed in the Under Armour All-American game. The football program had the opportunity to play across the world and compete against different countries. The varsity program traveled to London to play against the NFL Academy and the team became the first U.S. high school to travel to Monterrey, Mexico and play in the Friendship Bowl. The national team competed at home against the Puerto Rico National Team. As of commencement in May, there were over 40 football student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college football programs.

Golf

In 2023-24, IMG Academy’s golf program had 48 first place tournament wins both nationally and at the state level and won several Hurricane Junior Golf Tour events. Po Cheng Hsu and Chloe Chang finished first at the IMG Academy Junior Tour Florida Challenge. Jessica Guiser and Darren Zhou won the Optimist Tournament of Champions. Guiser also finished first in Cancun at the Southeast Cup hosted by the Mexican Golf Federation and Zhou won the 2024 Junior Orange Bowl International Championship. Emil Neilsen finished first at the Copa Valle De Mexico in Mexico City. Roman Solomon finished in the top-three of Steph Curry’s final Underrated tournament and earned a spot on the inaugural European Tournament. Hsin Tai Lin qualified for the USGA Junior Championship. As of commencement in May, there were over 20 golf student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college golf programs.

Lacrosse

In 2024, the IMG Academy girls national lacrosse team reached a ranking of No. 12 in the country for the first time in program history and a season high ranking of No. 2 in the state. The girls team won the New Balance National Cup Tournament. The girls team had two major distinctions including Ava Kitt, who was named All-American for USA Lacrosse, for the second year in a row and Taylor Santos, who played for Team Canada and scored two goals. The boys program also had two major distinctions including Jos Chois being chosen to compete in the Professional Lacrosse League combine, competing with the top-40 class of 2025 players in the country and John Paul’s invitation to participate in the First Annual Elite 80 Invitational. As of commencement in May, there were over 30 lacrosse student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college lacrosse programs.

Soccer

Fifteen boys soccer student-athletes represented 13 countries’ national teams, including the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Egypt, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Nicaragua, the United States, Venezuela, and the Virgin Islands. Seventeen girls soccer student-athletes represented 11 countries’ national teams, including Bermuda, Brazil, Columbia, Denmark, Egypt, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States, Venezuela. The girls U19 Premier team won the USYS Florida State Cup. The girls U17 Elite team finished first in the Girls Academy League Southeast Division for the second year in a row. As of commencement in May, there were over 70 soccer student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college soccer programs.

Tennis

In 2023, IMG Academy had several student-athletes compete at the highest level in junior tennis including girls tennis student-athletes Sayaka Ishii and Ena Koike both advancing to the Wimbledon Championship singles quarterfinals. Wakana Sonobe won the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships (formerly known as the Eddie Herr International Championships) singles title and Yihan Qu won her third-consecutive ITF Junior Tournament. Haniya Minhas won her first ITF singles title at 13-years-old. In boys tennis, Rei Sakamoto became the 2024 Australian Open Junior Champion and quickly rose in the ranks to become IMG Academy’s sixth Junior World No. 1, becoming IMG Academy’s first since Jerry Shang in 2021. Danil Panarin captured the juniors Orange Bowl singles title. Atakan Karahan and Roh Hoyoung competed together in several doubles tournaments across the world and became champions in Brazil, Paraguay, Porto Alegre, and Charleroi-Macinelle. Three student-athletes competed in the Miami Open including Rei Sakamoto, Sayaka Ishii and Ena Koike. As of commencement in May, there were over 30 tennis student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college tennis programs.

Track & Field and Cross Country

The track and field program dominated throughout the indoor and outdoor season, providing multiple first place finishes and sweeping several events with IMG Academy student-athletes. In 2023, the track and field program produced 21 indoor All-Americans, the most in program history and 36 student-athletes qualified for nationals. The girls 4x800m placed sixth and the girls 4x100m placed seventh at the Championship of America. In 2024, Yuliya Maslouskaya dominated at the New Balance National Championship in the girls Pentathlon, bringing home a National Championship title to IMG Academy and shattering the national meeting records. Caine Stanley broke the meet record at the Millrose Games, the oldest indoor meet in the country, and held the No. 1 record in the U.S. for the 300m dash and Gabby Smith broke the U.S. record in middle school 200m hurdles. Dylan Woodruffe anchored Trinidad and Tobago’s U20 4x100m relay for the win at the World Athletics Relay Championship. As of commencement in May, there were over 20 track and field student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college track and field programs.

Volleyball

In 2023, volleyball became IMG Academy’s 15th sport and first new sport in nearly a decade with two teams – U18 and U16. Both teams went undefeated in their preseason play and won the first-ever IMG Academy Volleyball Classic. Amanda Mack was named an Under Armour All-American. Four student-athletes were ranked in the Prep Dig top-25 including Hazel Alevok, (No. 3 overall, No. 1 middle-blocker), Gianna Reamer (No. 24 overall, No. 6 outside hitter), Ryea Jackson (No. 21 overall. No. 6 middle blocker), and Dahlia Roberts (No. 14 overall, No. 1 rightside). Four student-athletes were invited to participate in the Spring National Team Development Program held on IMG Academy’s campus. Hazel Alevok and Ryea Jackson trained with the U17/18 team and Renee Jones and Hailee Mack trained with the U19/20 team. Julia Lowenstein represented Team USA in the Pan-American Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Additionally, Hazel Alevok was one of 20 girls invited to the 2024 USA Girls U19 Indoor National Team. As of commencement in May, there were six volleyball student-athletes who graduated from IMG Academy and committed to college volleyball programs.

Alumni

In 2023-24, IMG Academy saw six alumni drafted in the first round of professional sports organizations. They include ’22 graduate Jarace Walker (eighth overall, Indiana Pacers, NBA), ‘22 graduate Jett Howard (11th overall, Orlando Magic, NBA), ’22 graduate Keyonte George (16th overall, Utah Jazz, NBA), ’21 graduate JC Latham (seventh overall, Tennessee Titans, NFL), ’21 graduate JJ McCarthy (10th overall, Minnesota Vikings, NFL), and ’20 graduate Hosei Kijima (17th overall, St. Louis City, SC, MLS).

In total, 18 former IMG Academy student-athletes were drafted by professional sports organizations in 2023-24 including:

• Major League Baseball: Mac Horvath (Round 2, Baltimore Orioles), Jake Gelof (Round 2, Los Angeles Dodgers), Josh Rivera (Round 3, Chicago Cubs), TayShaun Walton (Round 4, Philadelphia Phillies), JP Ortiz (Round 17, Cincinnati Reds), Drew Cavanaugh (Round 17, San Fransico Giants) Stone Russell (Round 18, Kansas City Royals), Cam Johnson (Round 20, St. Louis Cardinals), and Will King (Round 20, Atlanta Braves).
• Major League Soccer: Hosei Kijima (Round 1, St. Louis FC), Nathan Richmond (Round 3, Charlotte FC), and Ruben Mesalles (Round 3, Real Salt Lake).
• National Basketball Association: Jarace Walker (Round 1, Indiana Pacers), Jett Howard (Round 1, Orlando Magic) and Keyonte George (Round 1, Utah Jazz).
• National Football League: JC Latham (Round 1, Tennessee Titans), JJ McCarthy (Round 1, Minnesota Vikings) and Xavier Thomas (Round 5, Arizona Cardinals).

IMG Academy’s sports programs continue to have unprecedent success in professional sports drafts and competition, and in collegiate sports competition. This year added several historic achievements for IMG Academy alumni.

• Baseball:
  • This year marked the 17th year in the last 19 with an alumni selected in the MLB Draft and the 16th time in 17 years multiple alumni have been drafted in the MLB Draft. There have been 64 alumni drafted into the MLB across 27 teams with 37 selections directly from IMG Academy.
  • Eleven IMG Academy alumni played in the 2024 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, including two alumni in the College World Series with the University of Tennessee (Aaron Combs) and Texas A&M (Max Kaufer).
  • JP Ortiz, ’22 graduate, was drafted in the 2023 MLB Draft and officially signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 2024.
• Basketball:
  • This year was the fourth-consecutive year with an alumni selected in first round of the NBA Draft and 19 total alumni have been selected to the NBA Draft since 2005. It was the first time IMG Academy had two alumni selected as lottery picks in Walker (eighth) and Howard (11th).
  • The boys basketball program saw former student-athlete Zach Edey win the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year award in back-to-back seasons. Edey became the first men’s college basketball student-athlete to win the award in back-to-back years since 1981 and the third student-athlete to win the trophy in consecutive years since Ralph Sampson (Virginia) who won the trophy in 1981, 1982, and 1983 and Bill Walton (UCLA) in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
  • The basketball program had 14 alumni playing the NCAA DI Men’s Tournament and three alumnae playing in the NCAA DI Women’s Tournament this year.
• Football:
  • This year was the fifth-consecutive year an alum was selected in the first-round of the NFL Draft, which is an NFL record for one high school, and the sixth-straight year two or more alumni were selected in the NFL Draft.
  • Since 2020, IMG Academy has had at least one alumni selected in the first round every year and this year IMG Academy was the only high school in NFL Draft History to have two alumni selected in the top-10 overall picks.
  • IMG Academy holds the record, now at 21 former alumni drafted, for most NFL Draft selections from one high school since 2018.
  • The IMG Academy football program had eight alumni competing in the 2024 College Football Playoff Championship game, including three from the National Champion Michigan Wolverines: McCarthy ’21, Crippen ’21, Sabb ’22. The five members of the Alabama Crimson Tide include Booker ’22, Latham ‘21, Campbell ‘22, Porter ‘22, and Ricks ’23.
• Golf:
  • This year marked a successful year for IMG Academy golf alumni at the collegiate and professional level.Twenty-one men’s and women’s golf alumni competed in the NCAA Golf Championship across DI, DII, and DIII colleges and universities.
  • Nelly Korda ’16, secured her fifth consecutive tournament win on the LPGA Tour.
  • Cristobal Del Solar ’12, shot a record of 57, which is the lowest in PGA Tour sanctioned history.
  • Two IMG Academy golf trainees showcased excellence in the 2024 Masters Tournament including, Emiliano Grillo and Byeong-Hun An.
• Lacrosse:
  • The lacrosse program had 14 alumni across DI, DII, DIII programs participate in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament and five participate in the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament.
  • Two IMG Academy lacrosse alumni achieved two-time National Champion status. Maddy Manahan competed with Boston College in the final, while Ryan Sforzo competed with Notre Dame, who won the NCAA National Championship against Maryland, securing back-to-back titles.
  • Three boys Program alumni received All-Freshman Team honors in their respective conferences: Dillon Bush ‘23 (Mercer University) on the ASUN All-Freshman Team, Patrick Lyman ‘23 (Drexel University) on the CAA All-Rookie Team, and Jackson Palumb ’23 (University of Albany) on the All-Rookie Team.
• Soccer:
  • Three boys soccer alumni were taken in the MLS Super Draft, which was an IMG Academy soccer record. This brings the total number of alumni drafted in the MLS Super Draft to nine since 2005.
  • Soccer program alumni Nathan Richmond ’22, was a part of the 2023 Clemson University men’s soccer national championship roster.
  • Girls soccer alumna, Emily Fox ‘17, joined the Arsenal Football Club and has since played in 10 matches and had two assists.
• Tennis:
  • Tennis trainee, Danielle Collins, won her first WTA 1000 event at the Miami Open and reached a career high ranking of No. 10 in the world.
  • Earlier this year, tennis trainee, Jerry Shang, reached a career high ranking and became the youngest player in history from China to crack the ATP top-100.
  • Alumna Nikki Redelijk ‘20 won the 2024 West coast Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
  • Nine alumni and trainees, including Kei Nishikori, Danielle Collins, and Sebastion Korda competed in the French Open.
  • Sayaka Ishii turned pro at 18-years-old in 2024 and won her first pro title at the Osaka ITF W35.

As IMG Academy looks ahead to the 2024-25 academic year, its emphasis on student-athlete development in academics, athletics and personal development remain at the forefront, with a goal of helping its student-athletes win their future, preparing them for college and for life.

About IMG Academy

IMG Academy is the world’s leading sports education brand, providing a holistic education model that empowers student-athletes to win their future, preparing them for college and for life. IMG Academy provides growth opportunities for all student-athletes through an innovative suite of on-campus and online experiences:

• Boarding school and camps, via a state-of-the-art campus in Bradenton, Fla.
• Online coaching via the IMG Academy+ brand, with a focus on personal development through the lens of sport and performance
• Online college recruiting, via the NCSA brand, providing content, tools, coaching and access to a network of 40,000 college coaches

To learn more about IMG Academy and its on-campus and online experiences, visit www.imgacademy.com.