Nico Iamaleava names recruits he wants to play with at Tennessee

Tennessee has its superstar in Long Beach (Calif.) Long Beach Poly five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Now, it has to work on surrounding him with elite talent.

Iamaleava has some ideas.

Austin Price of volquest.com recently asked Iamaleava who he wants to join him in Knoxville. The five-star prospect named three in particular: Long Beach (Calif.) Millikan prospect Jordan Anderson, Gilbert (Ariz.) Williams Field four-star wide receiver Kyler Kasper and Chicago IMG Academy five-star wide receiver Carnell Tate.

So who does @nico_iamaleava8 want with him in orange? @AndersonnJJJ and then a couple of other big names…@carnelltate_ @KasperKyler pic.twitter.com/cBxexw8j48

— Austin Price (@AustinPriceless) March 21, 2022

Anderson and Iamaleava have known each other for years and previously played high school football together. As for Kasper and Tate, those relationships have developed on the recruiting trail.

“I built a core relationship with those two,” Iamaleava said. “We’ll see what kind of pull I have. Those are some guys to get right there.”

The On3 Consensus – a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies – has Tate as the No. 13 overall recruit and Kasper as the No. 121 overall prospect in the 2023 cycle.

Tate is the No. 2 wideout in the country, and he has already made known his thoughts on Iamaleava’s announcement.

If the Volunteers are able to land one of those guys, it will further add to the dynamic talent Tennessee is accumulating on offense.

On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power said Nico Iamaleava is a great fit for Josh Heupel’s high-powered offense in Knoxville.

“The up-tempo offense creates large passing windows by way of extreme wide receiver splits,” Power said. “There’s a heavy emphasis on the downfield passing game with a series of vertical option routes. Ideally, you’d want a quarterback with the arm talent to capitalize on the frequent deep shots. On paper, this this offense and Iamaleava look like an ideal match. You could say he fits the offense ‘to a T.'”