Florida Juniors Violated A FHSAA Bylaw Playing In Under Armour All-America Game: Report

According to a report by USA Today's Jon Santucci, each school of the players that took part in the game were forced to self-report the violation to Florida's high school sports governing body

Team Icon's Naeshaun Montgomery (4) catches a touchdown pass against Team Unstoppable during the Under Armour All-America Game Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. / David TuckerNews-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

According to the Florida High School Athletic Assocation (FHSAA), 11 juniors that participated in last week's 2025 Under Armour All-America Game shouldn't have because it was an in-state all-star contest.

The annual all-star game was played at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand, Florida. Last year the game was played at Orlando's Camping World Stadium.

Per a report by USA Today's Jon Santucci Wednesday afternoon, Florida's high school sports governing body is requiring the schools of the juniors that participated in the game to self-report the violation to the FHSAA.

“We were sent a notification to report a violation,” Vero Beach head coach Lenny Jankowski said via Santucci's report. “There’s been a response to that. There’s not going to be any consequences. They just have to get it figured out and worked out. It sounds like things got a little out of order. The right hand didn’t know what left was doing kind of thing. Obviously, us coaches aren’t going to do anything to get anybody in trouble. We were all caught off guard.”

What became the biggest issue of the juniors playing in the all-star game was the fact it was right in the Sunshine State, which FHSAA bylaw 26.1.1.2 states the following: “the student-athlete has exhausted his/her eligibility in the sport in which the all-star contest is to be conducted.”

Only way around the bylaw as a junior athlete is if the all-star game was played outside of Florida.

The 11 players listed per Santucci's report was Jesuit's Will Griffin (Florida commit), Chaminade-Madonna's Derrek Cooper, Vero Beach's Micah Smith, Bolles' Naeem Burroughs and Simeon Caldwell, Carol City's Jordan Campbell, Tavares' Izayia Williams, Miami Northwestern's J'Vari Flowers and IMG Academy 's Jake Kreul, Keenyi Pepe and Zech Fort.

Santucci's report says the Gainesville-based association has already told schools that players will not lose eligibility due to the violation.

Of the around 80 players that played in the Under Armour All-America Game, 33 were juniors.

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