BRADENTON, Fla. — IMG Academy is perhaps the most important program in the entire country for coaches to recruit, but you wouldn’t know it on National Signing Day.

While most high schools held signing-day ceremonies in the gym, IMG simply set up rows of chairs in what could just as easily have been a chemistry classroom. There were only four athletes sitting at the head table, and three of them played soccer.

Amelia Greaves signed with Palm Beach Atlantic. Lorena Lopez Miranda signed with Louisiana Tech. Charli Pogany signed with Georgetown. Somewhat surprisingly given IMG’s status, Jordan Anthony — a 6-foot, 220-pound linebacker and 4-star prospect — was the lone football player on display. He signed with Michigan.

Don’t be fooled, though. IMG had 21 footballers earn scholarships at the FBS level for the class of 2017. That’s a decade’s worth at most schools.

The other 20 were early enrollees and already arrived at their respective university campuses earlier this month. Anthony, who’s also a baseball player at IMG, is following a more traditional calendar and will graduate in the spring.

Receiver Jhamon Ausbon, guard Robert Congel and quarterback Kellen Mond are at Texas A&M. Safety Grant Delphit is at LSU. Long snapper Thomas Fletcher and linebacker Dylan Moses are at Alabama — and that’s just the SEC. Others are now at Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and a few more traditional powers.

But because Anthony is the rare two-sport athlete at IMG, finishing early and getting a head start in Ann Arbor wasn’t his intention.

“I already knew that I didn’t want to do that because I also play baseball,” Anthony told Saturday Down South. “I kind of wanted to get some baseball experience in before I went to college because I’d like to play at Michigan, too. That’s another year under my belt in baseball.”

While enrolling early and getting an extra spring semester’s worth of practice as a college player used to just be for QBs, now it’s every position on the field. Today’s freshmen are less inclined to sit and wait as redshirts.

Perhaps no high school football program in America is better prepared to send its prospects out the door a semester ahead of time than IMG. Not only are the athletic facilities second to none — they must be seen to be believed — but so are the academic resources. There’s no comparing life at the academy with that of a public high school student.

Graduating in December and becoming a collegian in January is the new norm, even if it takes some of the spectacle away from signing day.

Jordan Anthony, IMG Academy, Credit: John Crist, Saturday Down South

Credit: Saturday Down South

“I don’t know if it’s the expectation,” said coach Kevin Wright. “It’s the opportunity. It’s not for everybody, because some people still want one more semester. They still want to be a senior. But it’s the opportunity. When you talk about Power 5 schools, this is what they want.”

IMG doesn’t just go out and recruit the best high school football players in the country for the purposes of building a super team each fall. Not only must they excel on the field, but they must excel with the books, as well.

A run-of-the-mill high school is designed for its student body to graduate in the spring, so its curriculum is set up accordingly. If a football player expresses interest in going to IMG — especially if he wants to be an early enrollee in college — his transcript may be more critical than his highlight reel.

Nothing makes a teenager tune out faster than summer school. But at IMG, there’s just as much extra work with teachers as there is with coaches.

“Where we run into the biggest issues is making sure they get four years of English and four years of math,” said vice president and head of school Chris Locke, “so we’re looking for them to possibly work in our summer-school program. For the last two summers, we have brought in all of our football team in the middle of July for a camp. There’s a little bit of training but mostly it’s academic, where they’re going to pick up either a half credit or a full credit.”

Alabama, which signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation Wednesday for the seventh straight year, had 12 early enrollees this cycle. A year ago, it was seven. Prom isn’t a priority anymore. Playing in an extra spring game is.

Since he won’t arrive at Michigan until summer — coach Jim Harbaugh has 11 early enrollees — it’s possible Anthony will have a tougher time making an impact for the Wolverines as a freshman. It certainly won’t be for a lack of talent. According to the composite rankings at 247Sports, he’s the No. 8 player nationally at his position.

That being said, it’s unlikely that Harbaugh has another signee more ready for the rigors of life in the Big Ten than Anthony.

“As long as we’re nimble and we adjust to the landscape,” said associate director of athletics Scott Dean, “and this is what the landscape is dictating. College coaches want them in early for obvious reasons, so we’ve adjusted.”

While Greaves, Lopez Miranda and Pogany watched and waited, Anthony signed his letter of intent. From a football perspective at least, his journey at IMG was now complete. Forgive him if he got a bit flustered when it finally came time to put pen to paper.

“What’s today’s date?” he asked.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.