Elite 2023 QB Nico Iamaleava visiting Alabama this weekend

Downey (Calif.) Warren quarterback Nico Iamaleava already leads a national recruitment. The four-star signal-caller has offers from across the country and is recently coming off a visit to UCLA.

This weekend, he will head to Alabama, sources tell On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons. This will be his second trip to Tuscaloosa in the past six months after attending a camp there this summer. He’ll be joined by another high-priority guest, according to On3’s Gerry Hamilton. Sources tell Hamilton that five-star 2022 wide receiver Evan Stewart will also be in Tuscaloosa this weekend for a visit.

Iamaleava is the No. 22 prospect and No. 3 quarterback in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. On3 ranks him as a five-star and the No. 10 overall prospect in the cycle.

He is also one of the country’s best high school men’s volleyball players. He played varsity volleyball as a freshman at Long Beach Poly – one of the top high school teams in the country. Iamaleava transferred from Poly to Warren before the start of his junior season. His older brother, Matt, was a high school All-American in volleyball at Poly and is now at Long Beach State.

The 6-foot-6, 200-pounder holds offers from the Crimson Tide, as well as Oregon, USC, UCLA, Georgia, Ohio State and others.

Nico Iamaleava has been busy this fall

He camped at Ohio State, Clemson and Alabama this summer, and he’s taken unofficial visits to Georgia, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and UCLA.

The Rebels have made him a major priority under head coach Lane Kiffin and assistant Jeff Lebby.

“My first visit to Ole Miss was great,” Iamaleava said. “The energy was different for sure, especially for it to be a morning (11am CT) game. … “The crowd at Ole Miss was electric. I think with any SEC school you’ll get that vibe. Ole Miss has great fans and they went crazy over every little thing. Whenever they got loud, it kind of gave me chills, I am not going to lie.”

Do not be surprised if Iamaleava visits Oxford again, Simmons says. Outside of the game experience, Iamaleava had a little time to visit with head coach Lane Kiffin and assistant Jeff Lebby after the game.

“I got to meet with Coach Lebby and coach Kiffin and they were just excited to have us there,” Iamaleava said. “Coach Lebby kept it real with us as far as letting us know about the recruiting world and stuff like that.”

He is one of two major quarterback targets in the 2023 class for Alabama, along with No. 1 overall prospect Arch Manning. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Manning has the Crimson Tide among his top five schools, along with Ole Miss, Clemson, Texas and Georgia.