Recruiting: IMG Academy Pro Day offers chance to check in with national football prospects

The last time that IMG Academy's national team lost more than one game, "Blurred Lines," by Robin Thicke was dominating the Billboard Top 100. After picking up two losses for the first time in 12 years, the Ascenders are looking to make a statement in the 2025-26 season.

If you're facing nationally-ranked blue blood programs week in and week out, a 7-2 finish could be considered a successful campaign — as long as you don't play at IMG. But for a program that brings in talent like the Ascenders do, two losses is a far cry from preseason expectations.

"I'm hungry," said veteran offensive lineman Breck Kolojay, who has played at IMG for nearly three years and is the captain of his unit. "Last season was unacceptable, coming from a leadership standpoint. I think every day we need to attack the day like it's our last. The weight room is where we win games, and the stuff we do now is how we're going to win games in 2025."

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All eyes are on IMG this offseason. The Ascenders are still looking for a head coach to replace Billy Miller (who joined Bill Belichick's staff in North Carolina), and are helping a new batch of elite transfers find their footing amongst a group highly-touted returners.

IMG held their Pro Day on Thursday, and USA TODAY's Florida Network checked in with the Ascenders' top prospects to see where their recruitment stands, which schools to keep an eye on, and where they're setting up visits to.

Here's the latest intel on IMG's rising senior recruits:

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Height, weight: 6-foot-6, 330 pounds

Pepe's size and strength have made him a premier national recruit, and colleges have been pushing hard for the tackle since he was in eighth grade. He released a top sixteen last summer that consisted of Florida, Florida State, USC, Georgia, Miami, Texas, Alabama, Washington, Ohio State, and others.

Outside of the west coast programs like Washington and USC trying to bring him back home, Miami is the school to watch for Pepe. They've been pushing hard, and having him just a skip across the state has certainly helped their chances with the coveted lineman.

"Man, I love Miami," he said. "Just seeing them progress, and them communicating with me very consistently, too. It's been very good."

Pepe is scheduled for an official visit to Coral Gables in late May, but hasn't set up a spring visit yet. Other scheduled officials include Washington, Georgia, Florida, USC, and then between Tennessee and Texas for his last slot.

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Florida is another in-state program also pushing hard for Pepe. He cites a strong relationship with Florida offensive line coach Jonathan Decoster and says the Gators have been consistent in their recruitment.

Hometown: Orlando, Florida

Height, weight: 6-3, 230 pounds

Despite lacking prototypical height that elite edge rushers usually posses, Kreul is one of the most exciting defensive prospects in the 2026 class. He released a top-12 of FSU, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Michigan, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Miami, Ohio State, Florida, and Penn State on Thursday.

He says he narrowed down his list by deciding which schools we wants to visit and is scheduled for trips to Michigan, Gainesville, and Coral Gables. His date to Tallahassee isn't set yet, but he says he still plans on scheduling a visit. He attended Penn State's Junior day earlier this month.

"I've been all over the place with my recruitment," he said. "A lot of schools coming in and out of the list, but the way I got there was these are the 12 schools I want to visit for unofficial visits before I take my (official visits.) And then from those 12 schools try to plan out (official visits) after those spring visits."

Hometown: Long Beach, California

Height, Weight: 5-10, 190 pounds

Fort committed to Georgia on Jan. 30, and says his recruitment has actually increased since locking in with the Bulldogs.

"Actually, it's picked up my recruitment," he said. "Coaches are texting and calling me more than before. But it does feel good to be committed to the University of Georgia and be a part of that program soon."

Miami, Florida, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech are schools he has a good relationship with that are still recruiting him.

Hometown: Greenwood, Indiana

Height, weight: 6-1, 315 pounds

McHaney is an Indiana product, and you can tell when you check in on his recruitment. Indiana, Purdue, and Illinois have been recruiting him before he blew up on the circuit and transferred to IMG. He's scheduled for official visits to all three schools in June.

"It means more to me that they were already recruiting me before I came to IMG and got bigger," he said. "That means a lot to me. I built great connections, especially with Indiana and (defensive tackle) coach Kuntz — I've built a really, really good connection with him. But overall just getting closer to those hometowns and people that believed in me first is huge for me."

McHaney's brother, Raishaun, is a 6-foot-8 offensive tackle from Indiana that just signed with UCF out of high school. The Knights were the first school to come to mind when asked which in-state schools Cameron has a good relationship with. Billy Napier just recently reached out to him and followed him on social media, so keep an eye on how heavily the Gators pursue the big tackle. Clemson and Miami are also keeping in touch.

Hometown: Long Island, New York

Height, weight: 6-5, 290 pounds

Carey is polishing up his timeline now that his recruiting is gaining serious momentum. He's reeled in at least 13 offers since the start of the year from the likes of Alabama, Oregon, Ole Miss, SMU, and Tulane.

Carey plans on narrowing down his list to his top 5-10 top schools at the end of March once he's taken some trips. From there, he'll take his official visits before committing on June 30. Visits to Miami, Rutgers, Syracuse, Alabama, and USC are all in the works for March. He says those are just the schools that worked out for him to be able see that month.

He's locked in three official visits (that he will announce later), and is open to adding more depending on how things progress through the year.

Hometown: Dunnellon, Florida

Height, weight: 6-2, 160 pounds

By all accounts, FSU has Jones very high on their board. The 'Noles were Jones' first offer when he was in eighth grade, and have gotten him on campus about four times since then.

Jones has remained a priority for FSU through the new coaching hires. He says the new staff has done a good job of staying in touch. He's maintained a good relationship with defensive backs coach Pat Surtain Sr. and plans on getting back up to Tallahassee again for the spring before locking in an official visit.

"It's pretty good (with FSU)," he said. "We had a nice relationship and now I'm just building a relationship with the new staff that came in... They were my first offer so it's been a long journey with them. It's been pretty good (with the new staff), they came to see me down here during the offseason and we talked a little bit and now I'm waiting to go up there in the Spring and lock in an OV."

UCF got Jones to take an unofficial visit last winter, but the Knights' recruiting has hit a bit of a wall as Scott Frost builds out his staff and deals with the fallout of a tumultuous 2024 season in Orlando. Jones says despite the lull, UCF has still done a good job of staying in touch. He has official visits set at USF and Tulane, and is expecting to lock in more with Duke and Wake Forest.

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio

Height, weight: 6-3, 275 pounds

December was a busy month for Conroy, who committed to Oklahoma just two weeks before announcing his transfer from St. Ignatius to IMG. Conroy named the Sooners out of a top-5 that included Michigan, Miami, Florida, and Arizona State.

"Right when (I committed), I never slept better," he said. "It was a great day. I felt it was the right time for me. I love Oklahoma. I love everything about it, I love the city. Obviously I expect them to have a big breakout year... I felt it was the right time and I know I got some backlash for it. A lot of people weren't happy with me, but I felt like it was the best decision for myself and it was what I wanted to do."

Conroy says he's "more or less" shut down his recruitment, but there are still schools pushing hard. Ohio State is still reaching out, but he isn't sure whether or not he'll get back up to Columbus for a visit with his hometown Buckeyes. North Carolina, Missouri, and USC have also ramped up efforts since he's committed. The NFL-style program that Belichick is building is enticing to Conroy, but he's hesitant to schedule visits while committed to the Sooners out of respect to the staff.

"I have to talk to my family, talk about it, pray about it," he said about a potential visit with the Tarheels. "I don't know if I want to open that door quiet yet because obviously I am committed, and I want them to respect my decision. But I still want to do my due diligence, for sure. And I mean, it's Bill Belichick, so we'll see what happens. But I love Oklahoma. I don't have any other OVs scheduled, but if I do I'll be sure to communicate that with them so it's not just random."

Conroy has been pushing hard for Kruel to join him on his official visit to Norman, and the two will be roommates at IMG next year. Kruel's top-12 included the Sooners, and Conroy says he's going to work hard to bang the drum for Oklahoma.

Hometown: Hoschton, Georgia

Height, weight: 6-0, 225 pounds

IMG's linebacker room continues to be one of the most recruited position groups at IMG, and Forkpa is the marquee name for the Ascenders' linebacker core.

He just got back from a junior day trip to FSU, and says it was good to strengthen the relationships he has in Tallahassee. He says the new staff has brought a lot of good things to the table and Mike Norvell continues to show interest.

"It was a good visit, strong connections and I got to meet the new staff," he said. "It was really good. I like (new defensive coordinator) coach White's defensive front and how he runs his linebackers. So I'm very interested in that."

Outside of FSU, Forkpa has confirmed official visits to Minnesota and Michigan with a few more in the works. USF has maintained a strong relationship with the four-star and is working on getting him to campus. He says the Bulls were the first to reach out to him when the open contact period began in June.

"I respect them a lot for that," he said. "So I'm going to go check out their school. They have a good business program over there and that's what I want to major in."

Michigan is staying in the race as well. The Wolverines just signed another IMG linebacker in Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng during the 2025 cycle. Forkpa says the Wolverine staff sees lot of similarities between him and Owusu-Boateng.

He plans on dropping a top-10 after IMG's spring game, then wants to commit mid-season after taking official visits.

Hometown: Ocala, Florida

Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 336 pounds

Carr released a top-12 last summer that consisted of Miami, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, FSU, UNC, USF, and others. He's confirmed four official visits for this summer to Florida, Miami, Georgia, and South Carolina.

A school to keep an eye on for the central Florida native may be FSU. Offensive line coach Herb Hand and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn have developed good relationships with Carr in their time at UCF, and he expects them to recruit him with the same energy in their new roles in Tallahassee.

As he lines up official visits, he says there are two schools he sees as a priority to schedule trips to in the spring because he wants to try and take official visits there in the fall if scheduling allows it — Michigan and Tennessee.