Every year in the NBA draft, there are a few prospects who take on an aura of mystery. They are players who possess obvious talent, but also elude easy analysis, fascinating front offices as much for what is unknown as what is known. Most often, they have a few major question marks, but also possess an impressive amount of ability that puts such question marks on the back burner as teams are won over by their potential.

This year, one of the more fascinating prospects is Anfernee Simons, a 19-year-old guard who, after graduating from high school and reclassifying into the Class of 2018, opted to spend a postgraduate year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, decommitting from Louisville. Now, instead of attending college in the fall as initially planned, Simons will be in training camp with the Portland Trail Blazers, who selected him with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The preps-to-pro era ended in the second-round of the 2005 NBA Draft with the drafting of Amir Johnson, who was one of nine players selected that evening who chose to bypass college in order to enter the NBA straight out of high school. That summer, the NBA and the players’ association decided to raise the minimum age limit for draft eligible players. Since the collective bargaining agreement’s 2005 renegotiation, in order to enter into the NBA Draft, players must be 19 years old and at least one year removed from high school.

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The vast majority of high level draft prospects since then have decided to attend college for one season, where they try to impress scouts while also attending classes for a few months before inevitably applying for the draft after the season ends. It’s not an ideal situation for anyone — players are forced to waste time at a school that most have no intention of graduating from and teams are unable to establish any semblance of continuity as their best players come and go quickly. The only one who really benefits is the NCAA, who is able to make money off the unpaid labor of the athletes. It exposes the ideal the NCAA espouses of the student athlete to be pretty much a marketing angle, a sham meant to allow the NCAA to survive, and also make tons of money in the process.

And now, Anfernee Simons, with his reclassification, and subsequent enrollment at IMG has found another way of entering the NBA, one that does not rely upon placing himself under the aegis of the NCAA. He is not the first player to enter the draft without attending college since the age restrictions were imposed, but he is one of a select few. Most notably, Brandon Jennings and Emmanuel Mudiay following stellar high school careers, opted to play overseas for a season in Italy and China respectively, before becoming top-10 picks the next year.

While at IMG, Simons played on the academy’s Post-Grad team, playing over 30 games against other prep schools and junior college programs. In his lone season there, he led IMG to a 23-8 record and the 2018 National Prep Championship, averaging over 22 points per game in the process, shooting 54 percent shooting overall, while making 45 percent of his 3s.

Perhaps the primary benefit of attending IMG for NBA prospects, as opposed to enrolling in an NCAA program, is the ability to focus on basketball exclusively. In the NCAA, there are constraints that limit the amount of time a player is allowed to spend working on the court or in the weight room whereas at IMG, no such limitations exist. Also, IMG attempts to have a holistic approach that focuses on the development of the athlete as a person in addition to their skills.

According to IMG basketball coach John Mahoney, the combination of athletic and personal development is what sets IMG apart. Mahoney, who coached at Michigan and West Virginia before joining IMG in 2012, sees working at an academy as a way to get back to the basics of helping kids. “When I started coaching, it was to help kids and teach… but once you got deeper in, it’s not as much teaching — there’s a lot more pulling at you.” Coaching here, Mahoney feels freer to focus on the fundamentals, without having to worry about NCAA restrictions, or other concerns that pull a coach away from the players themselves.