TE Daniel Imatorbhebhe commits to Florida

By Adam Silverstein
December 16, 2014

Three-star tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe (Suwanee, GA) on Tuesday announced his verbal commitment to the Florida Gators, becoming the first 2015 recruit to make a pledge to the program since Jim McElwain was hired as head coach.

“Thank you to all the people/coaches that have supported me and given me an opportunity to play at their schools….I’m extremely proud to announce that I will be attending The University of Florida!!!!! #GatorNationWhatUp,” he wrote in his announcement on Twitter.

Imatorbhebhe (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), who received an in-home visit from McElwain one week ago, took an official visit to California – his other finalist – over the weekend and came away with a decision made.

An early enrollee who is expected to be at Florida by Jan. 6, Imatorbhebhe will participate in spring practice. He is expected to be used by McElwain as a versatile H-back.

The former Missouri commitment is the eighth member of the Gators’ 2015 recruiting class, which lost a foursome of four-star pledges since Will Muschamp was fired in November. All of Florida’s commitments are three-star-rated prospects.

Daniel’s brother, Josh Imatorbhebhe, is a four-star 2016 wide receiver prospect ranked 130th in the nation by Rivals. He is currently trying to trim down an extensive offer list with the Gators believed to be among the top three programs he is considering.

24 Comments

  1. Dave Massey says:

    Way to go coach, one!!!

  2. DJ Chemist says:

    $$$$$Cha-Ching$$$$$

  3. Ken (CA) says:

    I’m loving it! 6 foot 4 h-back? that’s kind of scary. Never heard of the kid before this, but how nice to have a possible TE if necessary right off the bat. Very encouraging start

  4. Steven says:

    The first of hopefully many

  5. Richard says:

    It has been said that these brothers are a pair deal. That is extremely exciting considering how nasty his brother is. They both are 6′ 4″ and that size with athleticism is just what we need.

  6. Rakkasan says:

    Why is this boy only rated a three star? I can never figure out these star ratings and what goes into them.

    • Fernzpat says:

      Rak,

      Three star is the hardest to figure as it has such a wide range of possible talent. He has offers from only one other SEC school so I am not expecting a world beater. Add your normal ranking-sites-often-get-it-wrong-and-he-could-be-the-next-Jimmy-Graham comment here:

      • 305Gator says:

        Yeah whatever you say but if this kid comes in and only manages to get one reception every other game he would be much better than the pair of top ranked, 4 star, best TEs in the country Muschamp brought in 2012 Taylor and I forget the other bust name, that were always injured, too skinny, couldn’t catch a cold and just plain could not get on the field and ended up transferring after 2 years of 4 star wasted potential .
        Heck if he catches just 2 TD passes per year he would be much better than our current #1 and #2 TEs Burton and Westbrook combined.

        • Fernzpat says:

          305,

          Did not think of it that way, have been trying to forget our TEs the last couple of seasons. In that context he may be a 5 star for us!!!!

          Seriously hope Jake Mcgee comes back, I really thought he was going to be the key for our offense last season…

          • 305Gator says:

            We’ve had TEs the past couple of years?
            TE? What TE?
            Just kidding, sort of. Hope McGee comes back too and hope this guy and whoever else we have can pan out as well.
            Go Gators!

        • gatorboi352 says:

          Oh you mean Gerald Christian? Yeah, he’s doing much better now outside of Muschamp’s system, up there at Louisville.: http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/501524/gerald-christian

          Players flourishing after leaving Florida the last 3 years… I suddenly am having a bout of deja vu….

          • 305Gator says:

            Not Christian, I meant the other dude that came in with Kent Taylor. Gerald Christian was a Meyer leftover who has tons of talent but got into trouble and transferred rather than put up with Muschamp’s punishment. His talent was never in question. the two kids I am talking about never played more than a few downs if at all.

            • Michael Jones says:

              Colin Thompson. Foot injury ended Gator career. Transferred to Temple where he eventually won a starting job.

              We’ll see about Kent Taylor and Thompson. Personnel decisions were weird at times under Muschamp.

  7. 305Gator says:

    Who cares if he is “only a 3 star”, he is a big ass player at a position of need. As long as he can catch the ball he is a much needed addition.

  8. Michael scott says:

    Wonder how many 3 star recruits Bama has ? Hard to get excited about a class without any of the top recruits at any position so far .I understand that stars don’t always mean a player will be successful but the percentage of five star recruits that turn into all sec or all American are much higher than 3 star recruits that make all sec or all American .

    • senuod says:

      Let’s be a little realistic. After last season, and with a fired/new head coach, there is absolutely no reason we should be comparing our class to Alabama’s this year.

      We just need to get decent players who will fullfill our needs for the coming season, of course any breakout stars would be great, but we have to be a little realistic as fans guys. Recruiting will be much better next year, if only because there shouldn’t be any questions as to who the staff will be. If we start to produce on offense and continue to be proficient on defense, recruiting will be that much better.

    • Dave Massey says:

      Marcus Mariota was a Rivals 3 star recruit, wonder how that one worked out?

  9. Michael Jones says:

    Plus the cupboard isn’t bare. We already have two 6’4″ freshmen in DeAndre Goolsby and C’yantai Lewis who were exciting prospects when they signed as well. They may be the proverbial “worldbeaters” for all we know. Developing talent wasn’t the prior administration’s strongpoint.

    Does anybody know if 6’6″ McGee is getting a medical redshirt and returning?

    Good job, Coach!

    • 305Gator says:

      “Developing talent wasn’t the prior administration’s strongpoint.”
      To be fair you should have said “offensive talent, they did well with the players on defense. But I’m with you just waiting to see what an offensively minded coach like mac can do with the offensive players on our roster.

      • Michael Jones says:

        Yes, 305Gator, it was definitely more glaring on offense. However, for too long, we also didn’t develop our 2nd and 3rd string defensive players as well as we should have. But I agree that changed during the 2nd half of the season–after Bama and LSU ran it down our throat–when we started rotating more of our young defensive linemen into the game. When that happened, surprise surprise, a fresher DL became better at (1) stopping the run and (2) rushing the QB.

        Go Gators!!!

    • senuod says:

      Last article I saw regarding McGee was the week before Thanksgiving. At that time, Muschamp was quoted as trying to work his NFL contacts to determine if McGee needed more game tape to have a good chance at going to the NFL or if he should petition the NCAA for that redshirt.

      That was about a month ago, and Muschamp is now gone and worrying about Auburn, so it’s hard to say where McGee’s head might be at without information coming directly from him. Doubt we’ll know much until after the holidays.

  10. Mike The Red says:

    It is a positive sign. One of the first things that coach Mac did was find a good TE. That is very encouraging sign.

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