ArizonaVarsity Roundtable: Jamar Malone Moves from Higley to IMG Academy
Last week Jamar Malone announced that he'd be enrolling at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and would be part of the IMG's travelling National Football team. As a sophomore last season, Malone produced nearly 5,000 combined offensive yards and 56 combined touchdowns for Higley on the way to a 5A Arizona state title. I asked ArizonaVarsity's Chilly and Jacob Seliga what they thought of the transfer:
Chilly on Jamar Malone's Transfer
"Jamar Malone is an elite QB who is more than capable of competing vs the highest level of competition, which is what IMG provides. When he’s dialed in, the sky is the limit. Just look at his second season at Higley, and you’ll see the almost 5000 yards of offense, and 50+ TDs, but it was important for him to get the first ever win in the rivalry game, and finish with a championship.
Jamar had little left to accomplish at Higley. Sure, an Open Division title would be great, but that likely would have to wait until his senior year. Unique opportunities to compete for National Championships don’t come along all the time. If Bishop Gorman, St. John Bosco, Mater Dei, or one of the super powerhouses like IMG come calling, you gotta go.Once you've proven you're a winner, you need to prove you can compete with the best of the best, and that's what he'll be doing."
Jacob Seliga on Jamar Malone's Transfer
"When it comes to Jamar Malone, I’m all for him and his family doing what’s best for them to get him to the next level. Obviously I would’ve loved to see him and players like Kamarion Peete defending their championship at Higley, but I’m still going to root for them from afar.
As a player I do enjoy Malone’s game and how the development in his decision making over the last year and a half. As a freshman you saw the mistakes, but you also saw the potential he had that would eventually make him the highly touted quarterback he is now. Last season as Higley went on their run to state, you saw him become more comfortable with his passes and smarter when deciding to run the ball.
Part of that credit goes to Higley head coach Eddy Zubey, who has coached several D1 quarterbacks, and that’s why Higley is in good hands for the future (as is Jamar Malone while he’s at IMG). I hope Jamar is successful and continues to receive the attention he deserves."
My Take
What Jamar Malone did as a sophomore at Higley was unprecedented. He came as close to a 4,000 yard passing, 1,000 yard rushing season as you can get- a feat that has only been accomplished once in Arizona high school football (Brock Purdy, 2017).
Kevin McCabe believed that Malone had a chance to become the greatest Arizona High School QB of all time, and that level of praise is what earned Malone the opportunity to play at a national level.
I'm a big believer that if you're serious about doing something for the rest of your life, that you should take whatever chances are available to set you up for success. While I don't love that IMG was quarterback shopping in the state of Arizona (and had been for some time), I had the opportunity to sit down with one of their coaches a couple of months ago... and when he laid out what is available for the athletes on campus, I was ready to try and send my own kids to Florida.
The yearly tuition alone for students that live on campus is nearly $85,000, and plenty of students are paying pull price to be part of all IMG has to offer. The school has a 4:1 staff-to-athlete ratio, and sent 209 athletes to D1 schools in 2022.
One of the athletes they sent D1 was former Saguaro Sabercat WR Shawn Miller, who is now at the University of Illinois.
I cover Arizona high school football, and so of course I want to see the best players play *in* Arizona, but our website has also always been laser-focused on promoting students who achieve excellence in athletics, academics, or who do positive things in the community. We cheered on Marvin Bagley when he left for Sierra Canyon. We cheered on Markus Howard when he left Perry for Findlay Prep. We cheered on Jeremiah Vessel when he left Basha for Bishop Gorman. And we're going to cheer on Malone while he's out in Florida. He earned this opportunity, and I'm excited to see what he does with it.