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I can't wait to watch this game. IMG QB Malik Henry is the real deal and will be fun to watch. I'm also excited to see how much better RB Kadarrian Nixon will be for Desoto. I have Nixon as a top RB for the 2017 class.
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Last edited by svhorns; 04-25-2015, 01:32 PM. -
I sure will be pulling for Desoto in this one. I am fearful of what IMG may represent in the future, with their unique offering. Yeah.. I have some degree of Public Pride in my desire for the outcome, I admit it: I want the Public neighborhood kids to better on that night. -
If Desoto can go toe-to-toe w/ IMG, I will be satisfied. Of course, it's a public vs a NATIONAL recruiting firm. You expect IMG to win, but Desoto may just have the horses to get the job done. If Desoto pulls off the victory, it will say a lot about the direction of the program (w/ a new HC). IMG, on the other hand, could honestly try its hand w/ playing some JUCO's. They basically function the same way, except the kids are a tad younger, on average, at IMG (though it seems as though most of their starting roster transfers there as a JR or SR). Will this game be on TV?Comment
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IMG is basically an all star team and in games in thier past against teams such as DeSoto the outcome hasn't work out for them. I see IMG as a tune up game for DeSoto to prepare for the toughest district in 6A, much as the team they play last year from out of state. The main concern would be the injuries DeSoto had in that game, but they prove with their depth they could compete at a high level after that game.Comment
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I share your concern, especially how it relates to Allen. You may find it interesting and somewhat nuanced where I had gone into some of those mixed emotions on a post at the National Site where the UIL was being kicked around. Here is that post from there, unaltered:
I can tell I am somewhat in line with most here. I like a lot of the views here and I think I lean with SumDude the most in advocating for a strong, consistent and principled governing authority. Perhaps.. I lean with the UIL taking a harder line. Much is at stake with this. Yes, there are multiple values and principles in play. In some ways, there is no right or wrong, but different perceptions reflecting different values. Competing values. i.e. how Jbell, takes a very common and also principled position, of sensitivity to more “freedom of choice”.
I am big on the whole mantra of Texas’ strength, in the publics and those publics, really need to be “neighborhood kids”. Of course move ins and transfers, can and will be legit, but I sure hope for good scrutiny in all this. If anything, for the current “Allens of the world”, I think they should be on the receiving end of, not unfair or unreasonable scrutiny, but a smidgeon more scrutiny. Again, for other legitimate reasons under the UIl/governance of fairness and not wanting too much of the rich getting richer and other legitimate reasons for the value and integrity of the state of Texas.
On a more fan/school basis, being an Allen fan in all this, I am deeply conflicted. Let me state this: I do not know the real facts around KM or this MN QB kid. But one thing has been tossed out there on various forums/sites is something along the lines of “Murray rented an apartment in Allen, never sold the house in Lewisville?”. Is that actually true, with certainty? The logical extension of that, if true, would be they will/have/in the process of moving back to the house/Lewisville post graduation? Don’t know. But if he really was “an apartment transfer”, while never parting with the primary house residence, that would be cheating imho. Again.. maybe I have this wrong and that is not the deal or even if the UIL rules would allow such a thing.
My point, and let me come right out with it, is that I am fairly principled and consistent on all this:
There is the ‘Letter of the Law’ and there is the ‘Spirit of the Law’.
I prefer and advocate for the higher integrity of the ‘Spirit of the Law’. To skirt the edges and obscure lines, where the intent is sorta understood, is imho to be shady. Some with a different view, may see my take on that not as the ‘vice’ it is, but instead to recast it as a ‘virtue’: they are instead being shrewd. I get it, I just don’t come down on that side of the line.
The other thing that is unsettling for me, is that there are now questions about Allen’s integrity. Does it operate with a moral and principled foundation at its core? I sure hope so. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but is that warranted or a reflection on my naïveté? It would be hypocritical for me, to not fess up to some of the emotions shared by other fans from various sites/boards, when a dig is leveled at Allen in this. To fess up to that is my way of yearning for the days when our character was not questioned. Above reproach.
Now to be fair, and what I also wonder about, “is this the normal price and burden to be paid, when one is a top dog and that the recent winning then comes with more skepticism, scrutiny and even unfair allegations?" Hmmm I suppose in the things like this, the potential for some of both are in play. One thing above all for me: there should be NO SCHOOL, that gets UIL benefits that others don’t. If we loose our bearings on that to a large degree, then we have rendered the great state of Texas to being functional peers of all others. The UIL has been a good shield for us, lets hope it continues to block abhorrent behavior. That is my thoughts/rant.
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That was a well thought out response and I get what you're saying.Comment
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“Everyone know what goes on at schools around the country but because of our relationship with our state association we can be more open with our recruiting. I don’t think anyone believes it isn’t happening elsewhere but just because we talk about it doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it. There is no reason to exclude us if everyone were being as honest.”
IMG: Should Ascenders be ranked?
http://vype.com/nationalhsfootball/2...hool-programs/Comment
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5star QB Malik Henry gone from IMG
(Thanks for the assist, Horns)Comment
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No problem.5star QB Malik Henry gone from IMG
(Thanks for the assist, Horns)
I was really hoping to see him play on tv. Oh well. The game just got a little bit more winnable for Desoto.Comment
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Interesting tidbits about this academy (junior college)lots of $$$$$.
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FWIW, I hope DeSoto KILLS IMG.Super BComment
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To some degree, yes....Private(recruiting schools) vs. Public school, but IMG is on whole other level in my opinion with much better athletes across the board. DLS will probably be the better team(team play) and better coached though and higher nationally ranked.
There probably won't be a better game to see talent and D1 athletes on the field than the Desoto/IMG game this year. I plan on being there to see this game and with my Texas pride in hand, hope to see Desoto squash the factory boys.Comment
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I was actually thinking from the angle of how the two sets of teams match up.
DeSoto and IMG both have TONS of talents, can run and pass and IMG is a legit threat to beat DeSoto because they are one of the few teams in the country that can matchup with them.
Trinity and DLS are both heavy run teams with hard nose defenses. Neither are overly blessed with gobs of D1 kids on their rosters, though there are a few. DLS is a legit threat to beat Trinity.Super BComment
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If you build it...
By Donnie Wilkie , Herald-Tribune / Wednesday, September 4, 2013
BRADENTON — Casey Gunderson knew it the moment he walked in the door.
“You come to IMG, it’s not your typical high school,” Gunderson said. “At a typical school, you have kids playing football just for the fun of it.
“Everyone here has a goal to play Division I football. It’s a little more serious.”
That “goal” is really more of a focus, says Dr. Roger Dearing, executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association and a former Manatee County Schools superintendent. Dearing calls it “a sports-improvement focus.”
Bryant Architects, Samantha Cummins, Stuart Henderson, Rick Fawley, Mike Bryant, Steve Padgett and Sarah Colandro all stand on the first phase of a multi-sport complex now open at IMG Academy in Bradenton.
IMG Academy’s posh 5,000-seat stadium has a giant LED videoboard. The head coach won a Heisman Trophy. The offensive line is bigger than all but one in a BCS conference (American Athletic). And the 235-pound star running back is making a one-year flyby on his way to Alabama.
Do they recruit? The Ascenders’ roster includes boarding students from 15 states, plus Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong and Puerto Rico. Actively seeking athletes, the FHSAA’s boss acknowledges, is what allows IMG “to keep their business open.” So recruiting — outside the state — is allowed, and the team is one of 77 playing as an “independent.”
Nope. Not your typical high school.
SCHEDULING DILEMMA
When IMG unveiled plans to field its first football team, it wasn’t a shock that no school in Manatee, Sarasota, Hillsborough, Charlotte or Lee counties offered to play.
Instead, the Ascenders’ first official home game Friday (7:30 p.m.) is against North Miami Beach, and a cosmopolitan schedule includes trips to Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ocala and Naples.
Waiting for that ESPN showdown between Manatee and IMG? It’ll probably never happen, says Joe Kinnan, the Hurricanes coach and athletic director.
Manatee County ADs have chosen not to schedule IMG in any sport. Other area schools seem to be waiting from a perceived safe distance, wary of “The Corporation” picking off their best talent.
“That’s not what we do,” said IMG coach Chris Weinke, who quarterbacked Florida State to the 1999 national title and, a year later, became the oldest player (28) to win a Heisman.
“We don’t seek out local players. That’s not what we do. We will never do that. If there are ever any kids from Florida (on the roster), they are seeking us out. We never will steal any local players. It’s not how we operate.”
A SHIFT IN PHILOSOPHY
A seat in an IMG classroom is a costly one, $20,000-$80,000 annually, depending on boarding and travel needs.
Financial aid is provided for some athletes, but how much and how many is not something the academy — founded in 1977 when Nick Bollettieri opened his fabled tennis school — typically discusses.
“I understand IMG to be a training academy and a marketing company, so I don’t know what they’re trying to do,” said Palmetto coach Dave Marino. “In terms of football, we’re in Florida. Our kids get all the marketing they could ever dream of.”
When IMG rebranded last year (part of a $197 million, 15-year plan), its emphasis shifted to a more “university-like” philosophy. That includes a school spirit drive called “Rise Up!”
“We have a Homecoming now, a prom, pep rallies,” said Kim Berard, the academy’s head of public relations. “Kids are painting their chests at games. That’s never happened before.”
It’s still a tough sell for veteran coaches like Kinnan and Southeast’s Paul Maechtle — even if Gunderson, a senior wide receiver who attended Cardinal Mooney last year, is IMG’s only local player.
“I can’t devote the same number of hours to training our kids to be football players,” Maechtle said. “That’s not part of the deal. I would say there’s a disconnect. Most of the people involved (at IMG) are not your mom-and-pop group of people from Manatee County. They’re from some other place.”
Added Kinnan: “Our kids live with their parents in the (school) district. The vast majority of them went to our school as ninth-graders. Many of their dads played here.”
Riverview athletic director Jim Ward: “It’s a business for (IMG), it’s a lifestyle for us.
“Our goal is to change lives. We don’t really know what we’re getting, whether the kids have a lot of talent or no talent. But we invite them in, because they live in our district.
“We’ve got a great scholarship at Riverview. Public school is free.”
REACHING OUT
The area’s collective silence surprised Weinke, who reached out to every local coach when he arrived at IMG three years ago.
He is the academy’s director of football, working in the offseason with pros like Cam Newton and a myriad draft hopefuls. This is his first head-coaching assignment.
“Quite frankly, I would love to start to build some rivalries with some local teams,” Weinke said. “The common theme (this year) is that we’re playing good football teams, historically good programs that have had success and gone to the playoffs. My hope, as we move forward, is that these local teams will be encouraged to reach out to us.”
The Ascenders will use their new stadium for football, soccer, lacrosse and track, as well as their 7v7 national championship, which attracted more than 100 BCS recruits in June. There also is talk of hosting the Florida-Georgia all-star game.
“IMG is one of the biggest sports event management companies,” Berard boasts. “If we put on a football game, we’re going to treat it like a world-class event.”
Yet with only 750 students, IMG Academy would land in a Class 4A district with Avon Park, Clewiston, LaBelle and Lake Placid — a combined 6-23 in games not against each other in 2012. No area schools play in 4A.
Weinke opted instead to search out teams “that would be competitive with us.
“We didn’t want to be in any situation where we truly overmatched someone or where we were totally overmatched,” he said.
NO MANDATE
The FHSAA’s Denarvise Thornton, who deals with eligibility and compliance issues, foresees trouble if any school ever is “mandated” to play IMG: “Their business model, basically, is that they recruit. Even if they’re recruiting outside Florida, it is still recruiting.”
Instead, the Ascenders are perfectly positioned as an independent, ineligible for a state title but as much an FHSAA member as Bayshore High across the street.
“The agreement we have is they cannot recruit students inside the state of Florida, because we have to protect our other members’ rights,” Dearing said. “They get all the rights every other member school gets, but no one is forced to play them.”
Greg Phillips, IMG’s athletic director and former AD at the University of Oklahoma, has met with Dearing in Gainesville. “We know clearly where we stand (on recruiting),” Berard said.
Dearing attended the groundbreaking for IMG’s stadium in April.
But Kinnan said his county’s ADs “collectively felt it’s just not in our best interests” to play the Ascenders.
So IMG paid for two charter buses to bring Palm Beach Lakes in for its Kickoff Classic (IMG won 38-0), and will return the trip next season. North Miami Beach is being paid a $4,000 stipend, leaving the Chargers with a $1,000-$1,500 loss, according to first-year athletic director Renee McCleod.
Lakes’ Willie Snead, who coached Glades Central to a 3A state title in 2006, called it “a great opportunity” — even after a long rain delay kept his team from returning home until 5 a.m.
“Where else could you play a team that has players from all those different states or compete against so many guys who are considered among the best?”
He doesn’t think the local coaches should worry.
“For me, if your career rests on whether a 16- or 17-year-old stays, then you’re in it for the wrong reason,” Snead said. “You’ve got to coach the kids that are there, the kids that believe in you. If IMG was next to Glades Central, we wouldn’t have had one kid leave. Those coaches may have their reasons for feeling threatened, but we certainly wouldn’t have.”
IMG running back Bo Scarbrough, who burned Lakes for 233 yards and three touchdowns, arrived in early August from Tuscaloosa County (Ala.). Quarterback Michael O’Connor, a Penn State pledge, is from Canada but played last fall at Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor.
Protected by an offensive line that averages 305 pounds, they won’t feel threatened by anyone.
Meanwhile, Weinke has noticed a change of attitude at IMG.
“I think the mentality across the board has changed here,” he said. “We will not sacrifice the development of players, but we’ll continue to grow and expand as an academy, and we’ll become more like a typical high school.”
He says his goal “is to teach kids how to win and go 1-0 every week.
“We’re not looking ahead, and once we play a game, we’re not looking back.”Last edited by Super B; 06-23-2015, 05:51 PM.Super BComment
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Many interesting facts and comments: A training academy and marketing company,Not your typical high school,focus is on sports improvement, and the big one, recruiting(business model) outside the state of Florida is allowed, cost is expensive $20k-80k with available financial aid.If you build it...
By Donnie Wilkie , Herald-Tribune / Wednesday, September 4, 2013
BRADENTON — Casey Gunderson knew it the moment he walked in the door.
“You come to IMG, it’s not your typical high school,” Gunderson said. “At a typical school, you have kids playing football just for the fun of it.
“Everyone here has a goal to play Division I football. It’s a little more serious.”
That “goal” is really more of a focus, says Dr. Roger Dearing, executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association and a former Manatee County Schools superintendent. Dearing calls it “a sports-improvement focus.”
Bryant Architects, Samantha Cummins, Stuart Henderson, Rick Fawley, Mike Bryant, Steve Padgett and Sarah Colandro all stand on the first phase of a multi-sport complex now open at IMG Academy in Bradenton.
IMG Academy’s posh 5,000-seat stadium has a giant LED videoboard. The head coach won a Heisman Trophy. The offensive line is bigger than all but one in a BCS conference (American Athletic). And the 235-pound star running back is making a one-year flyby on his way to Alabama.
Do they recruit? The Ascenders’ roster includes boarding students from 15 states, plus Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong and Puerto Rico. Actively seeking athletes, the FHSAA’s boss acknowledges, is what allows IMG “to keep their business open.” So recruiting — outside the state — is allowed, and the team is one of 77 playing as an “independent.”
Nope. Not your typical high school.
SCHEDULING DILEMMA
When IMG unveiled plans to field its first football team, it wasn’t a shock that no school in Manatee, Sarasota, Hillsborough, Charlotte or Lee counties offered to play.
Instead, the Ascenders’ first official home game Friday (7:30 p.m.) is against North Miami Beach, and a cosmopolitan schedule includes trips to Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ocala and Naples.
Waiting for that ESPN showdown between Manatee and IMG? It’ll probably never happen, says Joe Kinnan, the Hurricanes coach and athletic director.
Manatee County ADs have chosen not to schedule IMG in any sport. Other area schools seem to be waiting from a perceived safe distance, wary of “The Corporation” picking off their best talent.
“That’s not what we do,” said IMG coach Chris Weinke, who quarterbacked Florida State to the 1999 national title and, a year later, became the oldest player (28) to win a Heisman.
“We don’t seek out local players. That’s not what we do. We will never do that. If there are ever any kids from Florida (on the roster), they are seeking us out. We never will steal any local players. It’s not how we operate.”
A SHIFT IN PHILOSOPHY
A seat in an IMG classroom is a costly one, $20,000-$80,000 annually, depending on boarding and travel needs.
Financial aid is provided for some athletes, but how much and how many is not something the academy — founded in 1977 when Nick Bollettieri opened his fabled tennis school — typically discusses.
“I understand IMG to be a training academy and a marketing company, so I don’t know what they’re trying to do,” said Palmetto coach Dave Marino. “In terms of football, we’re in Florida. Our kids get all the marketing they could ever dream of.”
When IMG rebranded last year (part of a $197 million, 15-year plan), its emphasis shifted to a more “university-like” philosophy. That includes a school spirit drive called “Rise Up!”
“We have a Homecoming now, a prom, pep rallies,” said Kim Berard, the academy’s head of public relations. “Kids are painting their chests at games. That’s never happened before.”
It’s still a tough sell for veteran coaches like Kinnan and Southeast’s Paul Maechtle — even if Gunderson, a senior wide receiver who attended Cardinal Mooney last year, is IMG’s only local player.
“I can’t devote the same number of hours to training our kids to be football players,” Maechtle said. “That’s not part of the deal. I would say there’s a disconnect. Most of the people involved (at IMG) are not your mom-and-pop group of people from Manatee County. They’re from some other place.”
Added Kinnan: “Our kids live with their parents in the (school) district. The vast majority of them went to our school as ninth-graders. Many of their dads played here.”
Riverview athletic director Jim Ward: “It’s a business for (IMG), it’s a lifestyle for us.
“Our goal is to change lives. We don’t really know what we’re getting, whether the kids have a lot of talent or no talent. But we invite them in, because they live in our district.
“We’ve got a great scholarship at Riverview. Public school is free.”
REACHING OUT
The area’s collective silence surprised Weinke, who reached out to every local coach when he arrived at IMG three years ago.
He is the academy’s director of football, working in the offseason with pros like Cam Newton and a myriad draft hopefuls. This is his first head-coaching assignment.
“Quite frankly, I would love to start to build some rivalries with some local teams,” Weinke said. “The common theme (this year) is that we’re playing good football teams, historically good programs that have had success and gone to the playoffs. My hope, as we move forward, is that these local teams will be encouraged to reach out to us.”
The Ascenders will use their new stadium for football, soccer, lacrosse and track, as well as their 7v7 national championship, which attracted more than 100 BCS recruits in June. There also is talk of hosting the Florida-Georgia all-star game.
“IMG is one of the biggest sports event management companies,” Berard boasts. “If we put on a football game, we’re going to treat it like a world-class event.”
Yet with only 750 students, IMG Academy would land in a Class 4A district with Avon Park, Clewiston, LaBelle and Lake Placid — a combined 6-23 in games not against each other in 2012. No area schools play in 4A.
Weinke opted instead to search out teams “that would be competitive with us.
“We didn’t want to be in any situation where we truly overmatched someone or where we were totally overmatched,” he said.
NO MANDATE
The FHSAA’s Denarvise Thornton, who deals with eligibility and compliance issues, foresees trouble if any school ever is “mandated” to play IMG: “Their business model, basically, is that they recruit. Even if they’re recruiting outside Florida, it is still recruiting.”
Instead, the Ascenders are perfectly positioned as an independent, ineligible for a state title but as much an FHSAA member as Bayshore High across the street.
“The agreement we have is they cannot recruit students inside the state of Florida, because we have to protect our other members’ rights,” Dearing said. “They get all the rights every other member school gets, but no one is forced to play them.”
Greg Phillips, IMG’s athletic director and former AD at the University of Oklahoma, has met with Dearing in Gainesville. “We know clearly where we stand (on recruiting),” Berard said.
Dearing attended the groundbreaking for IMG’s stadium in April.
But Kinnan said his county’s ADs “collectively felt it’s just not in our best interests” to play the Ascenders.
So IMG paid for two charter buses to bring Palm Beach Lakes in for its Kickoff Classic (IMG won 38-0), and will return the trip next season. North Miami Beach is being paid a $4,000 stipend, leaving the Chargers with a $1,000-$1,500 loss, according to first-year athletic director Renee McCleod.
Lakes’ Willie Snead, who coached Glades Central to a 3A state title in 2006, called it “a great opportunity” — even after a long rain delay kept his team from returning home until 5 a.m.
“Where else could you play a team that has players from all those different states or compete against so many guys who are considered among the best?”
He doesn’t think the local coaches should worry.
“For me, if your career rests on whether a 16- or 17-year-old stays, then you’re in it for the wrong reason,” Snead said. “You’ve got to coach the kids that are there, the kids that believe in you. If IMG was next to Glades Central, we wouldn’t have had one kid leave. Those coaches may have their reasons for feeling threatened, but we certainly wouldn’t have.”
IMG running back Bo Scarbrough, who burned Lakes for 233 yards and three touchdowns, arrived in early August from Tuscaloosa County (Ala.). Quarterback Michael O’Connor, a Penn State pledge, is from Canada but played last fall at Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor.
Protected by an offensive line that averages 305 pounds, they won’t feel threatened by anyone.
Meanwhile, Weinke has noticed a change of attitude at IMG.
“I think the mentality across the board has changed here,” he said. “We will not sacrifice the development of players, but we’ll continue to grow and expand as an academy, and we’ll become more like a typical high school.”
He says his goal “is to teach kids how to win and go 1-0 every week.
“We’re not looking ahead, and once we play a game, we’re not looking back.”Comment
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Yep. This is a whole other animal. The obvious to not so obvious, major impact to minor impact player movement that goes on here, is nothing compared to IMG.Super BComment
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Allen,1 school town, more money than Davy. Crockett, the largest, most expensive high school stadium in the country solely for 1 HS team and kids from multiple states within the U.S. On its roster. Yet here in Texas we want to stick our nose up at another program because they happen to be from another state who plays football every bit as good as we do in Texas. There isn't much of a difference between IMG and Allen or the south Dallas schools. The only difference is here and in this state we refuse to believe that our programs are as corrupt as the ones in different states that we love to tear downComment
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