Ten Five-Star Prospects Make Montverde-IMG Must-See TV

Montverde took round one over IMG in December at the City of Palms Classic.

When Montverde (Fla.) Academy and IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) take the floor Sunday night at the Spalding Hoophall Classic (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), there will be no shortage of five-star talent on the floor.

Montverde boasts six five-star prospects led by Cade Cunningham, a point guard who is committed to Oklahoma State, and Scottie Barnes, a point-forward who is committed to Florida State.

IMG has four led by point guard Jaden Springer, a Tennessee commit.

The Eagles took round one knocking off the Ascenders 63-55 in the City of Palms Classic title game on Dec. 23. That avenged a loss to the IMG in the semifinals of the GEICO Nationals last season when IMG went on to claim its first-ever national title.

Both teams had personnel issues coming into and during last month’s game.

Springer was questionable to play in the game with an ankle injury but ended up wrapping it and toughing it out. He ended up finishing the game with 16 points.

On the Eagles side, Cunningham was forced to sit extended minutes after picking up his third foul midway through the second quarter.

That’s when Barnes took over and finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in route to claiming MVP hardware.

Dariq Whitehead, a five-star sophomore shooting guard, stepped up big for the Eagles with 12 points in the win.

And therein lies the problem for IMG, and, quite frankly, everyone else Montverde will face this season: Four-and-five-star swarms.

You manage to get Cunningham, arguably, the No. 1 player in the country, in foul trouble, then here comes three and four other talented four-and-five-star prospects to not only pick up his slack but elevate the team’s intensity.

That level of chemistry and buying-in is hard to achieve.

The best part?

This is likely not the last time the two teams will meet up this season.

In two weeks, both teams play on opposite sides of the bracket at the Saint James Invitational in Maryland and have a legitimate shot at round three in the title game then there’s GEICO Nationals in April.

The Eagles finished undefeated in 2018 led by R.J. Barrett, now with the New York Knicks, and this year’s team seems primed to repeat history.

That said, if there’s one team in the country that can derail that goal it’s IMG.