NRG announce Valorant academy roster; Re-enter League of Legends

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 14/01/2026

NRG have announced a Valorant academy roster, launched in conjunction with Maryville University.

NRG reached the pinnacle of Tier 1 Valorant in 2025, following their victory over Fnatic in the Grand Final of VCT Champions 2025.

The organisation will now bolster their depth with a Tier 2 academy roster, allowing the organisation to develop future talent.

The move sees the American organisation base its academy operations in St. Louis, Missouri.

The team will compete in the Valorant Challengers League (VCL) circuit, starting January 19 2026.

The organisation joins several other notable orgs to have teams in the VCL, including Sentinels, Evil Geniuses, and Shopify Rebellion in NA.

The NRG Academy roster is:

Adam ‘Ange’ Milian
Caide ‘chloric’ Heaton
Tanner ‘geeza’ McGhee
Austin ‘RENZ’ Dickman
Yahya ‘shondex’ Amani

Matthew ‘mCe’ Elmore (Coach)

NRG provided the following statement as part of the announcement:

“NRG is launching NRG Academy (VALORANT), a new development program built to train the next generation of elite talent in North America while competing in the VCL.

As reigning champions, we at NRG believe that winning at the highest level comes with a responsibility: committing to the next generation by creating real pathways for players who want to chase the same dream.

In service of that mission, NRG Academy is designed to support long-term player growth through a pro-standard training environment, internal development opportunities, and meaningful competition.

Why Maryville?

For our first initiative, we want to address a challenge many aspiring pros face: having to choose between committing fully to competitive play or pursuing their education. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Maryville University, one of the most established collegiate esports programs in the country.

Together, we’re creating a structure that connects competition, training, and education – one where eligible players can pursue a degree while developing in a high-performance environment on a professional track.

Through this partnership, players who join NRG Academy will also have the option to attend Maryville under scholarship (subject to eligibility and admissions), compete in the collegiate ecosystem, and earn a degree while continuing their development.”

NRG returns to League of Legends in active January

The announcement is the second major announcement from the organisation in recent days, following the news that NRG would return to League of Legends.

The return follows the acquisition of DarkZero by the organisation. As such, the org will compete in Tier 2 League of Legends as part of the NA Challenger League.

As part of the announcement, the organisation revealed that the core of the roster has been signed, but tryouts were being held for the remaining available spots.

The organisation also opened a public application process for a coach for the roster.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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