FORT MYERS, FL — Jackson Johnson had plenty of reasons to come back to Florida.
His wife has family in Tampa. He and his wife have two children under 2. And Johnson himself spent his formative high school years in the state after moving to Jacksonville in eighth grade.
Then there was IMG Academy.
The opportunity to lead one of the country's premier high school basketball programs brought Johnson back to Florida after four seasons at The Newman School in Massachusetts.
For Johnson, the basketball and family pieces fit together.
“Once it was something that was actually presented to me, the urgency was as high as it can get,” Johnson said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports.
Johnson had been part of an extensive search for the IMG job, but
the process initially took another direction before eventually circling back to him.
When it did, Johnson knew what he wanted.
Now, he's in Bradenton, coaching at a program he likens to the high school equivalent of Duke, North Carolina or Kansas. And he's doing it with a roster that gives him a chance to work with some of the most talented players in the country.
Talent, though, is only the starting point.
“Our job at IMG is to satisfy a few things,” Johnson said. “We want to have the highest character among our kids, along with the talent. We think we can get the best of both.”
That distinction is important to Johnson.
IMG's roster features players with ties to USA Basketball and national teams from Germany, Australia, Canada and Turkey. Among them is 7-foot-4 Dylan Betts, whose 7-foot-8 wingspan recently caught Johnson's attention during Betts' visit to Michigan.
For Johnson, the opportunity to coach players with that kind of talent isn't simply about developing their basketball skills. It's about developing the person, too.
“Tougher and more resilient,” Johnson said of what he wants to develop in his players. “To make them into a hardened young man. It's amazing to be able to do that every single day.”
That's the challenge Johnson has embraced at IMG: taking a collection of elite individual talent and turning it into a team capable of winning at the highest level.
The goal is ambitious. IMG wants to win the Chipotle High School Nationals, and Johnson believes the roster has enough versatility to give the Ascenders a chance. But he knows talent alone won't get them there.
His solution isn't necessarily more traditional team-building exercises or manufactured chemistry. Instead, Johnson wants his players to experience difficult things together.
“We're gonna make our program very difficult,” Johnson said. “Everybody is in the fire together.”
Johnson believes those shared experiences can forge the kind of cohesion required to win a championship.
That philosophy will be tested early, when IMG competes in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers in December.
The tournament carries some personal significance for Johnson. He remembers watching it as a high schooler and recalls the success of the Providence team featuring Grayson Allen. Now, he'll get to experience the event from the other side.
Another huge motivator for Johnson: IMG has never won the tournament.
That makes their visit to Fort Myers before Christmas more than an early-season showcase. It's an opportunity to prove to his players that setting a goal and following through with it can create something more valuable than a trophy: genuine confidence.
“That's real confidence,” Johnson said. “That's not fake, bloated confidence. That provides real, deep confidence. And you learn how to win.”
The move to IMG has given Johnson the chance to return to the state that shaped him as a player while bringing his young family closer to relatives in Tampa.
His wife was “just as happy or happier” than he was when Johnson told her they were moving to Bradenton.
But now comes the basketball part.
Johnson has the talent. He has the expectations. And he has a roster filled with players accustomed to competing on national and international stages. His task is to make all of it work together.
“We're fighting for that every day,” Johnson said.
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @NP_AlexMartin or via email: amartin@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At IMG Academy, Jackson Johnson is trying to turn elite basketball talent into a team
