4-Star WR Josh Imatorbhebhe's Spring Break College Tour Diary
Georgia wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe holds 30 scholarship offers and spent his spring break traveling to four college campuses—Arizona State, USC, Stanford and Florida. Imatorbhebhe, who caught 59 passes for 1,072 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2014 at North Gwinnett High School, gave Bleacher Report an inside look at his spring break journey. Here are some highlights of the trip in his own words, as told to B/R national recruiting analyst Tyler Donohue.
Friday morning, April 3: Take Off
We had to hit the road early for a drive to the Atlanta airport. I already packed my things for for the visit to Florida (April 10-11) because the turnaround is going to be quick when we get back from the West Coast.
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My mom, Zizi, and little brother, Jordan, are making the trip with me. Jordan is only two years old, so that helped us get through airport security much quicker than usual.
We planned this trip out a while ago, so I was excited to finally get things started. I spent the early part of my childhood in California, where we lived in Orange County, so it's always nice to get back there.
I'm going to chip away and focus on some of these contenders for college. There's no rush to make a decision, but at the same time I'd like to start clearing my head and figure out where I want to be for the next part of my life.
There's a lot going on right now with new offers, and I'm kind of ready for this recruiting process to die down a little bit.
Our first flight of the trip was to Phoenix, and it was pretty awesome. We were able to see a lot of really cool sights out of the airplane window. Seeing the Grand Canyon from above was incredible.
The first thing that stood out when we landed was the cactus. I'd never seen cactus in my life, so that was my introduction to Arizona.
We only lost about an hour during the flight because of the time zone change, which was great because it allowed us to spend a full day at Arizona State.
Arizona State
Friday afternoon, April 3
Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham and offensive coordinator Mike Norvell were attending a fundraiser golf event when we got to campus, so wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander was the one who showed us around.
He took us on a tour of team facilities. I got to check out the Sun Devils' new Adidas gear, which looked really sharp. We also spent time in meeting rooms and the weight room.
Someone who I really connected well with at Arizona State was quarterback Brady White, one of the top players from the team's 2015 class. I like him a lot and feel like we established a friendship.
Coach Alexander compared me to Arizona State wide receiver Jaelen Strong while we were studying film. He has a chance to be a first-round NFL draft pick this year, so I appreciated that.
The Sun Devils have a very versatile offense that puts receivers all over the field. They told me it's run a lot like NFL offenses, and it works at a quick pace.
The team practices outside throughout the year, which I really like. I enjoy nature, and this campus has a lot of that, including mountains.
I also have to admit, Arizona State had the prettiest population of female students I saw during my West Coast visits.
Saturday morning, April 4
We were set to fly out to Los Angeles in the late morning, but fortunately that still gave us time to attend a Sun Devils practice. I got a chance to meet several coaches before they got underway, and then I followed around Coach Alexander and his group of receivers.
I liked the tempo and flow of practice. I had a pretty good time watching how coaches and players communicated. There was a lot of energy.
We had to leave midway through practice in order to get to the airport. We were on a plane and headed to LAX around 11 a.m.
Saturday evening, April 4
We took it pretty easy once we got to Los Angeles. My family and I went to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, which was nice.
We originally wanted to try to visit UCLA on Saturday afternoon, but there just wasn't enough time to make that work. Our plan was to get an early start on Sunday for Easter, so I was pretty much just laying low in our hotel.
That's when Brady White called me.
Brady is a really good guy, and you can see he's passionate about building up the offense down there at Arizona State. We spoke a lot about Arizona State and my recruitment, but eventually we talked a lot about non-football stuff. I'm sure we'll be in touch.
USC
Monday morning, April 6
We had a really nice Easter with some family friends in the area. My favorite part was probably going into the Pacific Ocean and hanging out on the Santa Monica Pier.
Southern California will always have a special place in my heart after growing up there. USC was actually the first college campus I visited, so that's always stuck with me during my recruitment.
We only had a limited amount of time to spend at USC because our next flight was scheduled for Monday afternoon. It would take us up to San Francisco, where we would be close to Stanford.
I would have liked to spend more time with the Trojans, but that was the only program on my spring break schedule that hadn't offered me a scholarship yet, so we didn't make it a very long stay.
We met up with wide receivers coach Tee Martin, who won a national championship as quarterback at Tennessee. I actually became friends with his son, Amari, during an overnight camp at USC.
I enjoyed my time with all the coaches I met during spring break, but Coach Martin was my favorite.
He broke everything down in detail for me, from what they do in practice to how things happen in games and where I would fit in. Coach Martin trained Sammy Watkins and Calvin Johnson when they were preparing for the NFL combine, so obviously that's pretty big-time.
We traveled around campus on a golf cart. It's a pretty amazing place, and they have a ton of building projects going on right now. It's easy to see USC has a lot of people invested into its success.
I got to visit the athletics awards room, which included championship trophies from every sport at the school and Heisman trophies. As someone who grew up a fan of USC football, I was excited.
USC athletics definitely have it going on. It was pretty unreal to be surrounded by so much greatness.
It was getting close to when we had to leave, so Coach Martin brought me into head coach Steve Sarkisian's office. I met Coach Sark earlier while touring facilities, but it was kind of brief.
Even though we were in his office, he actually talked to me on Coach Martin's cell phone. He was standing in the Coliseum, and I could hear his voice echoing in the stands.
Coach Sark let me know that I have an offer at USC if that's where I want to be. It was a special moment for me and basically left me speechless:
By the time we boarded our flight to San Francisco, I was getting a ton of love on Twitter about the USC offer. All the people reaching out overwhelmed me, and I gave myself a moment to just soak it all in.
Stanford
Tuesday morning, April 7
After a quiet night in the hotel with my family, we went to Stanford's campus in Palo Alto. I got to watch spring practice and spent time with wide receivers coach Tavita Pritchard, who also broke down some film with me.
I could tell the coaching staff was still pumped about a recent commitment from quarterback K.J. Costello. I let them know I was aware of it. That's a big one for Stanford.
I actually met K.J. before freshman year at a USC camp. Hopefully we'll get a chance to talk soon.
Tuesday evening, April 7
I met up with several Stanford players at the dining hall, including linebacker Jordan Perez, quarterback Keller Chryst, running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Joey Alfieri.
The menu wasn't exactly my favorite—they put kale on everything! Well, not everything.
It was cool hanging out with the players. They're a good group of guys and funny too.
I was supposed to stay with McCaffrey but ended up spending the night in Perez's dorm room. Unlike a lot of schools, Stanford athletes actually live with non-athletes while in campus dorms.
They encourage athletes to integrate with the entire student body. Sometimes you could be living with someone on the verge of doing something groundbreaking, so you better make sure to become friends. There are a lot of smart people at Stanford.
The room was set up really efficiently, so there was space for me to sleep on a pull-out couch.
Wednesday morning, April 8
There was an early special teams meeting at the football facilities, and then we had breakfast at the training table. I met up with offensive lineman A.T. Hall, who actually used to live in Georgia like me, and went to a class with him.
It was a pretty interesting course that focused on the study of sleep cycles. I was tired from all the traveling and actually fell asleep during that class.
I know, it was ironic.
Wednesday afternoon, April 8
Strong academics were something they really tried to promote at Stanford. A.T. and I had lunch with a physics professor, and I continued to learn about what they call "The Stanford Man."
That's their goal for every football player. They want to create well-rounded people, not just athletes. A "Stanford Man" is diligent, works hard in the classroom and has balanced attributes. You're going to school to play football; not going to football to play school. Academic obligations come first.
I met with head coach David Shaw for about an hour. I definitely felt wanted at Stanford, but they didn't pressure me into making a decision.
That was really the case at every school I visited during spring break. No one tried to force me into a commitment, and it was pretty laid back.
Everything they do at Stanford is top-notch. That visit showed me you can get the best of both worlds in athletics and academics there.
After almost two full days on campus, I went back to the hotel with my family to get some rest. We headed back to the East Coast on Thursday and lost three hours on the trip because of a time zone change.
By the time we got back to my home in Georgia, I was whooped. I'm blessed to be in this situation, but I might need another break after this spring break.
Florida
Friday morning, April 10
My entire immediate family made the drive to Gainesville on Friday. It's about five hours away, and it's a trip I've become really familiar with since my older brother, Daniel, enrolled at Florida in January.
This was my fifth visit to campus since then. Daniel and I are extremely close.
A lot of people think it's a foregone conclusion I'll end up at Florida since he's already there, but I'm not taking anything for granted at this point. Still, the Gators will always be in the mix for me with him there.
Friday evening, April 10
It was really nice to just catch up with Daniel and enjoy a low-key night. The reason why I feel I'm mature in this recruiting process is because Daniel has been there to provide an example.
I went on official visits with him to Ohio State and Florida while he was being recruited. Now that he's a tight end at Florida, he can look back at the experience and offer me advice.
Daniel told me it's important to go to a place where someone doesn't have to convince you to go. Go somewhere you innately want to go. If you don't need to force yourself to be happy at a school, everything else—like football—will work itself out.
We went to a Gators baseball game together, talked about my trip and Florida's upcoming spring game. A lot of fans actually recognized me that night.
They kept saying the team needs me and I can do big things there. The environment at Florida is great, and the fanbase really shows you love.
We spent the rest of the night in the dorm chilling with Daniel's roommate and teammate, Kalif Jackson.
Saturday afternoon, April 11
There were a lot of familiar faces at the spring game. Players visiting included 2015 recruits CeCe Jefferson and Jordan Scarlett, who already signed with Florida.
I also saw some guys from my class, like Sam Bruce and Chauncey Gardner.
Coach Mac (head coach Jim McElwain) and his assistants came up to me before the game and made me feel at home. They really went out of their way to establish communication and make me feel as comfortable as possible.
I've grown to know Florida's new coaching staff during these past few months, and that was probably the best time I've had with them. I was introduced to a lot of people during the day.
After the game, my family and I joined Daniel for lunch at Florida's facilities. The lunch was exclusively for player families, so it gave me a little extra access that other recruits didn't have.
Daniel didn't play in the spring game, but I know he's working hard down there. I'm proud of him and definitely can't wait to see him get a chance to make an impact in the SEC.
We got back into the car for our return trip afterward. I'm sure I'll be back down soon to see Daniel.
Birthday Time
Sunday evening, April 12
I spent most of Sunday resting up after a long week. I had to get ready for a return to "reality" with homework and tests at school, but it was also my birthday!
It was nice to celebrate with the family and have some strawberry shortcake, which I enjoyed for a few more days with leftovers.
The spring break trip was definitely a success, and I'm thankful it all worked out. I picked up a new offer from USC, which stands out to me, and got a chance to look closely at four great schools.
I was able to get a lot of questions answered. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to really explore these schools because they could become my home for the next four years.
I'm still not sure whether I will eventually release a list of favorites or just announce a commitment when it feels right. It's just another thing I need to think about moving forward.
All quotes obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report National Recruiting Analyst Tyler Donohue.
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