Imatorbhebhe hopes to hear from McElwain

The Florida Gators assistant coaches were out on the road on Thursday recruiting and one of the Gators assistant coaches visited tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe (6-4, 220, Suwanee, GA North Gwinnett) at his school.

“Coach [Coleman] Hutzler came by my school earlier today because he wasn’t going to be able to come to my house,” Imatorbhebhe said. “It was before the news broke about Coach [Jim] McElwain so he was telling me to have faith in Jeremy Foley. Coach Hutzler said he wasn’t sure if they were going to keep him or not but that Florida is a great place either way.”

News broke shortly before lunch Thursday and tight ends coach Derek Lewis visited Imatorbhebhe at his house to talk about the Florida Gators situation.

“Coach Lewis came by my house this afternoon to talk to me and my mom about everything,” Imatorbhehbe said. “Coach Lewis is a great guy because he’s the coach that gave me my first offer so it was great to see him again. Coach Lewis was giving me advice and he said that even if he isn’t there that I should give Florida a shot.”

Imatorbhebhe was committed to Missouri for months but reopened his commitment after taking an official to Florida and ever since then the Gators have been high on his list.

“If Coach McElwain is interested in me than I’m going to be interested in Florida still,” Imatorbhebhe said. “I don’t really know enough about him to have a opinion on him but I look forward to talking to him.”

Now that coaches are on the road every day the Gators can visit prospects once a week so next week Imatorbhebhe could meet Coach McElwain if everything goes as planned.

“Coach Lewis said that if everything goes good that he will be back with the new coach next week,” Imatorbhebhe said. “He doesn’t really know what’s going to happen so he wasn’t for sure.”

If McElwain isn’t interested in Imatorbhebhe the tight end will still have a lot of options but Gainesville is a place he wants to visit again possibly.

“Cal, Florida, Ohio State, Minnesota and Illinois are recruiting me pretty hard,” Imatorbhebhe said. “I’ve already taken my official to Florida but if the new coach wants me to visit then I’ll be open to visiting them again.”

 

INSIDERS TAKE: Imatorbhebhe loved Gainesville on his visits this year and I truly believe that he wants to play close to home and Florida gives him that opportunity. It will be up to Coach McElwain though on how hard they push for Imatorbhehbe and that will ultimately decide the fait of him.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.