The transfer from UNLV wanted to take Devin Mockobee and CJ Madden to his favorite dining spot, Nico’s, inside the off-strip Durango Casino Resort. He would have shared his go-to order: Burger for an appetizer, lamb chops for the entrée.

Flight delays ruined those plans. Instead, the trio grabbed some carryout Wahlburgers inside Mandalay Bay and headed back to their rooms after arriving Wednesday night. In its own way, that truly reflected Grimes’ year with UNLV.

“When I came to Vegas last year, yeah, I was expecting it to be something crazy,” Grimes said. “But about two weeks in, I was like, oh, it’s Vegas. You can have fun on the strip, but I’m here for football.”

Grimes returned to Vegas for football Thursday, in some ways bringing his career full circle. Well, more of a figure eight. Actually it most resembles a completely haphazard doodle — not unlike one his 18-month-old daughter, Gianna, might draw.

At Big Ten media days he represented his fourth (and final) team and conference. Such is the modern story of college football. Grimes began his career a blue chip recruit, weaved his way across the country through adversity and followed Barry Odom to Purdue for one final challenge.

After only six-plus months on campus, though, Grimes earned a media day distinction typically reserved for a team’s best leaders. Mockobee said he saw it on Day 1, when the freshly arrived transfer’s spontaneous “Purdue on three” declaration broke down a team meeting.

“He talks what he lives, and with him being an older guy, people see that and ultimately just respect it,” said Madden, in his second season after transferring from Georgia. “He’s done a great job and he’s going to do great things this fall.”

Where Tony Grimes has been

When he left Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 2020, Grimes could not have expected to one day wear a gold Purdue pin on his black suit at Big Ten media days. He took the long route there, too, starting at …

North Carolina: Odom, as Arkansas’ defensive coordinator, recruited the five-star prospect. Grimes picked the Tar Heels, though, then reclassified and entered college a year early. He began starting as a freshman, started regularly as a sophomore and junior and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors along the way.

The coaches who brought Grimes to Chapel Hill began to leave. He didn’t mesh with some of their replacements. So he entered the transfer portal — when Odom first tried to land him — and signed with …

Texas A&M: The Aggies needed defensive back help, and Grimes was considered a big boost for a program which never quite reaches its lofty expectations. However, two weeks into preseason camp, went down with an MCL injury and knee tendinitis. He never played a snap for A&M.

Grimes said he became too easily influenced by a group of teammates who “didn’t want it bad enough.” His time in College Station became a frustrating yet enlightening period. At this juncture, he stopped chasing those five-star expectations.

Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher after the season, and Grimes looked elsewhere. He stayed in the Power Four by committing to …

Michigan State: That’s right — technically, Purdue is not Grimes’ first Big Ten affiliation. Not every transfer goes smoothly, though. Grimes’ credits transfer from A&M to East Lansing hit a snag. He would not be able to join the Spartans until the end of the summer.

Grimes did not believe he could afford to miss spring football. So he decommitted and reconnected with a familiar face in a new place, called …

UNLV: Odom’s third attempt to reel in Grimes paid off. He started 13 games and recorded 20 tackles and six pass breakups. The Rebels won 11 games for the first time since 1984 and cracked the AP top 25 rankings for the first time in their 46-year history.

Coach Barry Odom of the UNLV Rebels embraces defensive back Tony Grimes #0 after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks at Children's Mercy Park on September 13, 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas.

Grimes completed his degree in communications and media studies. He could have stayed in Vegas for another year. Could have kept ordering those burger-lamb chop combos at Nico’s.

Instead, he felt a sense of loyalty to Odom.

“He saw something in me a lot of coaches didn’t see in me,” Grimes said. “He still believed I can be this top player in the country one day. He brought me in, and our journeys keep going.”

Where Grimes is going

That single honorable mention All-ACC selection remains the only conference recognition of Grimes’ career. Odom, though, sees flashes of what made Grimes a top-20 national recruit more than half a decade ago. He said Grimes is in the best shape of his career and playing his best football right now.

“I think he’s an NFL player,” Odom said. “I think he’s got the physical measurables to align with that. He’s become a student of the game. He understands that part of that now. I think he’s just scratching the surface of what he can be.”

In keeping with Purdue’s insistence on thinking bigger than expectations, though, Grimes set his goals higher than the Stratosphere towering over the north end of the strip.

“I have to be the top corner in the draft this year,” Grimes said.

Come again?

“Yes, I will be,” Grimes said.

His reasoning? He will play against great competition throughout the season. Ohio State, USC, Washington — the modern Big Ten features no shortage of receivers who can make a defensive back look fantastic or foolish.

His motivation? He wants to help Purdue win immediately, and he wants to build momentum for recruiting the cornerbacks who will succeed him.

Yet he’s also no longer playing merely for pride and competition. He met Guadalupe Avalos-Castro when she was a pre-med student at North Carolina. She and Gianna will be with him in West Lafayette at he takes graduate school classes and closes his college football career.

Grimes has already penned an epic script with this coast-to-coast journey. He’s also an aspiring film maker who has been working on a screen play since his time with the Tar Heels. He declined to divulge the subject.

“I can’t get into too much stuff, but it’s gonna be good,” Grimes said. “It’s gonna be real good.”

If Grimes’ Purdue season goes as planned, they’ll be calling it, “Worth the wait.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Journey of Purdue football's former top-20 recruit goes full circle with loyalty: 'He still believed'