Top Midlands quarterback prospect transferring to powerhouse IMG Academy
One of the top football prospects in the Midlands is leaving the state to finish his high school career.
Chapin sophomore quarterback Jayden Bradford announced Tuesday on his Twitter page he is transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
“After much consideration, prayers and talks with family and friends, I will be transferring to IMG Academy to play on its national team,” Bradford said in the post.
Bradford also went on to thank his coaches, teammates, teachers and Chapin community.
According to Darin Bradford, Jayden’s father, his son will leave Thursday for Florida and begin classes on Monday. Darin said interest from IMG began a month or so ago and they were able to go down and visit the campus.
“Jayden was struggling back and forth you know with leaving his friends and loyalty he has with Chapin coach Justin Gentry,” Darin Bradford said. “We talked about pros and cons of either one (staying or leaving). And I don’t think it was the wrong answer either way.”
Darin Bradford said it was a tough call informing Chapin coach Justin Gentry because of the history between the two families. Gentry was an assistant coach when Darin Bradford’ played at Marlboro County.
Gentry wishes nothing but the best for Bradford in the future.
“I truly wish Jayden the best and I hope that he and his family experience great things,” Gentry said. “As for Chapin, we have always rolled with the next-man up mentality. Moving forward, it is my job to continue getting 200 young men in our program ready for next season.”
IMG Academy is a private boarding school that builds all-star quality teams in all sports and has a reputation of many of its student-athletes landing college scholarships.
IMG Academy’s National team, which Bradford will play for, plays a top-flight schedule against teams throughout the country and is regularly on national TV. The Ascenders finished ranked No. 17 in this year’s USA Today Super 25 poll. IMG y finished in the top 10 six straight seasons before this year.
The school fields three teams, including the national squad which travels across the country and features high-level college prospects.. The national team is coached by former NFL linebacker Pepper Johnson and has almost a dozen players ranked in the Top 150 nationally by 247Sports for Class of 2023 and 2024.
So, Bradford definitely will be getting a step up in competition in practice and on a weekly basis. The competition definitely was one of the factors in the decision.
“We never thought an opportunity to play at IMG would ever come up. But we sat down and Jayden took a lot of time to sit down and think about the goals he wanted to accomplish,” Darin Bradford said. “IMG did a great job of not overselling the program. They said if he came here it is going to be hard work and competitive. They don’t care about stars and offers. Everyone there is trying to get better and make each other better and compete. By him going there, he is going to learn a about himself and that is a positive.”
247Sports Composite ranks Bradford as the 94th best prospect in the country for Class of 2024 and he is the No. 2 prospect in South Carolina. He has several Division I offers and is being recruited heavily by South Carolina.
Bradford has taken unofficial visits to South Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State and North Carolina State among others. He attended two Gamecocks games this year and was at USC’s junior day last month.
The 6-foot-1 Bradford was an all-state selection as a sophomore and completed 64 percrent of his passes for 2,028 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also ran for 367 yards and five touchdowns.
Bradford becomes the latest player from South Carolina to finish their career at IMG. Others include Dutch Fork’s Devin Hyatt, who will be a senior at IMG next year. Bradford and Hyatt are familiar with each other from their days in middle school
Clemson’s Xavier Thomas and Demonte Capehart also finished their high school careers there after leaving their South Carolina high schools.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 2:44 PM.
