Daniel Imaturbhebhe on making his name known
As an athlete at USC, Daniel Imatorbhebhe has made a name for himself with over 22 games played and 9 starts. Imatorbhebhe sat out his 2015 season after transferring from Florida due to NCAA eligibility rule in regards to a rule known as ‘blueshirting’. It wasn’t until the 2016 season where he played as a redshirt freshman where he made a name for himself. He was an All Pac-12 team honorable mention after proving his effectiveness as a tight end for USC. He finished his bachelor in economics and is currently pursuing an MBA in social entrepreneurship.
In 2018, Imatorbhebhe sat out due to an upper leg injury, which was also the year where he won USC’s Community Service Award. Imatorbhebhe seems to be extremely passionate when it comes to helping people and solving social issues. “If I see someone out there that needs help, and I can help like why would I not do that?” he says as he explains how he sees value in people. When asked about his experience with the Community Service Award, he explained how he became more aware of the needs not just in L.A., but the world. Imatorbhebhe recalled a story where after a Black Panther screening, he spent an hour passing out leftover food and water to homeless people on the streets.
Imatorbhebhe gave an insight of what his day is like as a football player at USC. Having to wake up at five in the morning to stretch and workout to eight in the morning. After his workout, he gets some breakfast and attends his class from 8:30 to 1:50. Football practices and meeting then starts from two to 6:30. After practice, he must attend mandatory study hall/tutoring which can last until ten. After study hall, he gets back and sleep then wake up to do it all over again. This rigorous schedule is what Imatorbhebhe and a lot of other college athletes would have to go through on a daily basis.
When he was asked about how he felt college athletes should be treated, he felt that athletes are constantly being put out there and yet they’re not really being treated fairly. Athletes put their bodies and mental health on the line for the purpose of entertainment and as a result, they’ve earned little from it. Imatorbhebhe described being a student-athlete as a ‘full-time job’ without pay. However, there’s nothing much athletes can do or say despite the money being gained is from the athlete’s effort and that they’re not earning a single penny out of it.
Although Imatorbhebhe may seem like a large and intimidating person, he is actually a very down to Earth person and speaks in a very calm and quiet tone. Imatorbhebhe will be pursuing his masters in social entrepreneurship at USC’s Marshall School of Business as he seems to be a very academically committed person who has an idea of what he wants to do in the world.
