Education Next Names IMG Academy the Nation's Prototype for Sports-Focused Education

BRADENTON, Fla. (June 23, 2026) -- IMG Academy, the world's leading sports education brand, has been recognized by Education Next, the peer-reviewed education policy journal published by Harvard Kennedy School, as the most prominent and well-established sports academy in the United States and the prototype for a model gaining traction nationally.

The feature article, "Game Changer: The Rise of Sports Academies," published in the journal's Summer 2026 issue, examines how schools that structure their day to merge rigorous academics with intensive athletic training are reshaping what families expect from a student-athlete education. Of all the institutions surveyed, Education Next returns repeatedly to IMG Academy as the standard by which others are measured.

The Field Is a Lab

The Education Next feature opens with a morning on IMG Academy's campus, specifically a leadership session led by Pete Paciorek, IMG Academy's Head of Leadership and Character Development, on one of the school's six baseball fields. Paciorek, who spent a decade in professional baseball before earning an Ed.D. in character education, uses drills built around communication, teamwork, and situational awareness to illustrate principles that apply well beyond the sport.

His message to student-athletes is direct: "Are you a good teammate or a lousy one?"

It is a question, the article notes, that college coaches are always asking, and one that shapes how IMG Academy's boarding school approaches the full development of every student.

That philosophy is one CEO Brent Richard has articulated for years. As he told Education Next: "What happens on the field every day is a lab." The article positions that belief as central to why IMG Academy's model resonates with families, and why it has proven difficult to replicate.

Academic Rigor Alongside Athletic Excellence

Education Next reporters spent time inside IMG Academy's 102,500-square-foot academic center, where the energy of the practice fields carries into the classroom. The article describes a Law in Society class where student-athletes, a volleyball player and a lacrosse player, argued opposite sides of a landmark civil liability case with the competitiveness of a varsity matchup.

IMG Academy maintains a 12:1 student-teacher ratio, and offers 23 AP courses. The school's academics program is designed around the reality that for most IMG students, the next level is college, not the pros. A campus map tracking senior placements serves as a daily reminder of that truth.

Head of School Dan McKee captured the culture succinctly: "Athletes that would be superstars at home don't even get noticed here."

That environment, where elite competition is the norm, is part of what draws families to IMG Academy's boarding school from more than 70 countries. The article features Jayden Wade, the nation's top-ranked quarterback in the class of 2028, who left Compton, California to train and study at IMG Academy and has committed to the University of Georgia. He is one of roughly 1,600 student-athletes on campus at any given time, each pursuing goals that span football, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, golf, soccer, and more.

Mental Performance: Where IMG Leads the Industry

One of the Education Next piece's most compelling sections centers on Taryn Morgan, IMG Academy's Vice President of Athletic and Personal Development, whose team works with every student-athlete on the campus. Morgan, who earned her doctorate in education with a focus on sports psychology and trained alongside the late mental-conditioning coach Trevor Moawad, describes an approach that treats mental performance as a non-negotiable part of athletic development.

The result, she told Education Next, is an environment unlike anything else in youth athletics: "The skills are transferable well beyond sports."

What might be advanced mental coaching at the professional level is simply part of a normal school day at IMG Academy. The personal development program covers visualization, focus cues, pre-performance routines, breathing techniques, and leadership, all woven into each student's daily schedule alongside training and class time. Morgan notes that the skills student-athletes develop managing pressure on the field translate directly to managing pressure in the boardroom, the exam room, and life beyond sport.

It Is About More Than Going Pro

Education Next sought out families who have experienced the IMG Academy model firsthand. Doug Bernstein, co-founder of the toy company Melissa & Doug, sent both his daughter (a lacrosse player) and his son (a basketball player) to IMG Academy. Both went on to attend Clemson and Southern Methodist University, choosing academic ambition over divisional athletic offers.

His message to families considering the school: "It's about all the other stuff preparing you for life."

That sentiment aligns directly with how IMG Academy frames its college placement outcomes. The campus map of senior destinations, featuring Ivy League institutions and top-ranked universities alongside Division I athletic programs, reflects a development model designed to open doors, not narrow them.

The Gold Standard in a Rapidly Growing Market

The Education Next feature is candid about the landscape IMG Academy operates in: the sports academy sector is expanding quickly, quality varies dramatically, and families face real risks when evaluating options. The article examines schools that have exploited the model, along with the regulatory gaps that allow bad actors to persist.

In every comparison, IMG Academy emerges as the institutional standard. Its facilities include 29 multi-use fields, 58 tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, three weight rooms, and a 5,000-seat stadium spread across 478 acres in Bradenton, which the article describes as difficult to match. Its history, dating to the 1978 founding of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and the training of world-class athletes across generations, reflects a depth that new entrants cannot manufacture.

For families navigating the sports academy market, the article offers a clear takeaway: the institutions worth considering are those with a proven track record, established academic infrastructure, and a verifiable commitment to the whole student-athlete.

Sharing the Model: Elevate by IMG Academy

Education Next also highlighted the March 2026 launch of Elevate by IMG Academy, a new program that makes elements of IMG Academy's proven personal development curriculum available to K-12 schools and colleges worldwide. The move reflects the school's broader mission: not simply to serve the 1,600 student-athletes on its Bradenton campus, but to extend the principles of sports-integrated education to as many students as possible.

"As the machines have more of the answers," Richard told Education Next, "the human skills will become more important." For IMG Academy, those skills are the education: communication, leadership, mental resilience, and teamwork.

Read the Full Article

Read "Game Changer: The Rise of Sports Academies" in the Summer 2026 issue of Education Next, published by Harvard Kennedy School's Program on Education Policy and Governance.

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 IMG Academy+, with a focus on personal development through the lens of sport and performance
• Online college recruiting, via NCSA and Sports Recruits, providing unmatched college recruiting education and services to student-athletes and their families, club coaches, and event operators, and is the premier service for college coaches.

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