Stopping in Suwanee, again
Daniel Imatorbhebhe put Missouri as his leader when the Tigers offered in early March. His commitment on Wednesday, then, wasn't a huge surprise.
But the turning point for the three-star tight end out of Suwanee, Ga -- that's surprising.
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It started with a photo, and ended with a dismissal. That gave Imatorbhebe, and his family, the confidence to make a mid-April commitment to the reigning SEC East champions.
Ten days ago, Imatorbhebhe visited Missouri along with his mother and younger brother, 2016 receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe. The brothers took a picture with Dorial Green-Beckham, following the Tigers' scrimmage, and the younger Imatorbhebhe tweeted out the picture via his personal account.
Green-Beckham's remaining time at Missouri is well known. He was dismissed from the team on Friday. When Daniel Imatorbhebhe heard Missouri coach Gary Pinkel talk about that decision, he said the wheels started churning for an immediate decision.
"I saw an interview where reporters asked him, 'How do you balance the right thing to do with what hurts the team?'," Imatorbhebhe said. "Coach Pinkel looked at them and said, 'We don't do that here. We do what's right first and foremost.'"
Imatorbhebhe said he's not piling on Green-Beckham. It could have been any player. But that was validation for him that everything he thought about Missouri was correct. It gave him tangible evidence that he wasn't getting lip service from the coaching staff.
"I thought about it and realized you can't find better people than there are at Missouri," Imatorbhebhe said. "You can't find the combination of real people and great football, plus the academic support and everything. When I really thought about it, it was an easy decision.
"It's a good fit. It's a great fit, with the values their program stands for. Everybody from the GAs to the strength coaches -- at other schools, it can be fake or a show. It wasn't like that there. It felt like home. Why would I keep waiting?"
It's a culmination of a year of work for Imatorbhebhe. Last season, he said he was just known as "a guy that played next to Nate," referencing 2014 Mizzou signee Nate Brown. At that point, he made a goal to earn scholarship offers from three schools -- Clemson, Southern Cal and Missouri.
"Whoever offered first, I thought I would commit to," Imatorbhebhe said.
In the end, that first-to-offer, first-to-commit pledge came to fruition. At this point, Clemson nor USC have offered. But, he added, his decision won't be wavered should the other two schools come calling.
"I'm firmly committed to Missouri, the way they're firmly committed to me," he said. "I wanted to go somewhere that believed in me. Other schools played games. Missouri believed in me.
"It would be extremely hard to find any place to match Missouri."
The decision wasn't solely about concurrent value systems, though. That was the underlying reason for the commitment so soon, but Imatorbhebhe also sees the future. That includes results on the field.
"You factor in Drew going there, too, and hopefully Alex," Imatorbhebhe said, mentioning recent four-star commitment Drew Lock and four-star target Alex Ofodile. "And then Anree (Anree Saint-Amour, teammate and Missouri offer), he's dragging his feet a little but I'm going to give him all I got, plus Josh. It's just a great situation. Teams are going to have to look out for Missouri."
Imatorbhebhe chose Missouri over eight other schools, including offers from Florida, Virginia, Vanderbilt and Nebraska. He is the Tigers' sixth-known commitment for the class of 2015. As a junior, he caught 31 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns.