IMG National Championship loaded with UF Talent

With Will Muschamp’s football camp over, prospects are now back with their high school teams as well as their 7-on-7  teams and this weekend is the IMG 7-on-7 National Championship in Bradenton, Florida.

A number of top prospects will be in attendance as well as some Gator commits and targets playing for the ultimate goal of winning a national championship ring.

For the last two years Team Tampa has come away from the event as national champions and they will be back to defend their title this year with another stacked team.

Florida targets Ray-Ray McCloud (RB 5-10, 180, Tampa, FL Sickles), George Campbell (WR 6-3, 183, Tarpon Springs, FL East Lake), Byron Cowart (LB, 6-3, 257, Seffner, FL Armwood), Auden Tate (TE 6-4, 199, Tampa, FL Wharton), 2016 Saivion Smith (WR 6-2, 175, St. Petersburg, FL Lakewood) and 2016 Jacob Mathis (TE 6-5, 215, Tampa, FL Berkeley Prep) are all expected to participate for Team Tampa this weekend.

Now that we have introduced the champions I’m going to introduce you to the challengers; starting with Team Pro Impact out of Jacksonville, Florida.

Florida commit Deontai Williams (S Jacksonville, FL Trinity) will join Florida targets 2016 Trey Sneed (RB Fleming Island, FL), Jeffrey Holland (TE/LB Jacksonville, FL Trinity), John Burt (WR Tallahassee, FL Lincoln), Javarius Davis (ATH Jacksonville, FL ED White) and 2016 Florida commit Chauncey Gardner (CB Cocoa, FL High) will play for Pro Impact.

Jacksonville will have another team in attendance at IMG this weekend in Team River City Kings that will feature Florida commit Tristan Payton (WR Jacksonville, FL First Coast) and Florida 2017 target D.J. Matthews (WR Jacksonville, FL First Coast).

Former Florida Gator cornerback Keiwan Ratlff will take his team, Rat Pak, down to IMG and they are led by a Florida commit in Jalen Julius (CB Orlando, FL West Orange) and Miami commit Dexter Williams (RB Orlando, FL West Orange).

The last few years Miami teams have come up short in taking the championship away from Tampa and quite frankly they come into this weekend with a salty taste in their mouth.

One team from Miami that will come to Bradenton looking to take home the rings with them will be the South Florida Express led by Florida safety target Jaquan Johnson (Miami, FL Killian) and Florida State commit Tyrek Cole (CB Miramar, FL High).

All of those teams above are from the Sunshine State but there will be quite a few teams from other state in attendance and Core 6 (Illinois team) will bring Florida target Miles Boykin (TE New Lenox, ILL Providence Catholic) to the event.

A team from New Jersey will make the long trek down to Bradenton this weekend and with them they will bring Florida target Irvin Charles (WR Haddonfield, NJ Paul VI) with them.

Ok I’m done rambling on with a preview now buckle your seat belts and hold on as Gator Country will be bringing live updates to you all day on Saturday live from Bradenton, Florida.

Prediction time: Now that you guys have a preview of the event who do you think walks away with the beautiful national championship rings on Sunday?

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

1 COMMENT

  1. I keep hearing Dexter Williams name mentioned in reference to the Gators. Does that mean that UF is still going hard after him despite his pledge to Miami? If so, is there a good chance of flipping him or will it be like chasing after windmills like the fruitless pursuit of Travis Rudolph last year?