IMG Academy Football Student-Athletes Commit to the Next Level during 2019 NLI Signing Day

On Wednesday, December 18th, 12 IMG Academy football student-athletes made their commitments official at IMG's National Signing Day Ceremony. With their families, teammates, classmates, teachers, friends, and more in attendance, this group of individuals are all headed to Division 1 programs.

Among this group, six student-athletes earned a spot in the ESPN 300 recruiting list, with two players earning top 50. Five of these student-athletes were selected as Under Armour All-Americans and will compete on January 2, 2020 in Orlando at the UA All-American game, bringing IMG's all-time All-American list to 49 total.

The full list of today's football signees included:

• Warren Brinson: UGA (DL)*
• Demonte Capehart: Clemson (DL)*
• Mike Redding: University of Miami (WR)*
• Elias Ricks: LSU (DB)*
• Lejond Cavazos: Ohio State University (DB)*
• Jordan Butler: Northwestern (DL)*
• Jaqwondis Burns: Minnesota (LB)
• Nilay Upadhyayula: University of Connecticut (LS)
• Carter Hooper: University of Connecticut (DE)
• Zay Peterson: University of Louisville (DB)
• Josh Griffis: Florida State University (DE)
• Ivan Drobocky: Southeastern Louisiana University (TE) 

*ESPN 300 recruit

Chandler McGruder was also among this group as he committed to the admissions process and announced his plans to attend University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Ivy League.

The 2019 football season also proved impressive on the field, as the National team went 9-1 and remained within the top 10 national ranking throughout the entire season. Notably, the National team had their second and third highest single game team rushing outputs during this season. The group had 394 combined yards against Venice High School during the season opener as well as 397 against Booker T. Washington mid-season. IMG Academy's football program includes both a National and a Varsity team. This year, the Varsity team earned their best season record since its inception in 2017, coming in at 6-4.

Individually, Kaytron Allen (RB, '22) became the third Ascender to surpass the 1,000 yard rushing mark in a single season, joining Bo Scarbrough and Xavier Terrell. OJ Burroughs (DB, '21) set the program's single-season interception record with nine on the year, surpassing the previous record by four interceptions.

IMG Academy congratulates this group of signees and looks forward to another successful season and academic semester in 2020.