Tennessee has its quarterback of the future.
Nico Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Downey, Calif., committed to Josh Heupel and Tennessee on Monday. Iamaleava, the nation’s No. 7 overall prospect and No. 4 quarterback according to 247Sports Composite Rating, visited Knoxville for three days on an unofficial visit with his family earlier this month and now plans to play his college football career on Rocky Top.
Wednesday, he named a top five that included Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Miami and Tennessee.
Iamaleava made his way to Tennessee’s basketball game against Arkansas on March 4, where fans chanted “We want Nico!”
The 6-foot-5, 195-pound passer had announced a top 12 on Christmas Day last year and last fall made visits to Tennessee, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and Alabama. He also visited Miami in January. Oregon was also considered one of the front-runners for Iamaleava, but his visit to Knoxville made enough of an impact for him to make a decision. Now, he’ll be a key piece of Tennessee’s 2023 class, which now has five commitments and improved its ranking from 18th to 10th.
(Photo: Bryan Lynn via Getty Images)
How big of an impact is it for the Vols?
David Ubben, national college football writer: Tennessee missed out on in-state talent Ty Simpson in 2022 but rebounded with a huge pull from the West Coast that could affect the rest of their class.
Five-star prospect Carnell Tate is a possible domino that could fall the Vols’ way, but ultimately, Iamaleava is evidence of the impact of Tennessee’s wholesale offensive shift in Year 1 under Heupel.
The Arch Manning Sweepstakes move on, but any recruiting victory for Tennessee against Georgia and Alabama is a big one. The Vols are chasing both rivals, and Iamaleava is the kind of prospect that can precipitate more of those kinds of wins.
If Tennessee is going to get back to where it was in the 1990s, it has to stack these wins on the recruiting trail and eventually translate them to the field. It starts in recruiting, though. And for Tennessee, it’s hard to imagine a bigger win than the one it secured on Monday.
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