On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine says Vols take lead for Nico Iamaleava

What a difference a week has made in the recruitment of Downey (Calif.) Warren five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Just eight days ago, the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine listed Oregon as the favorite for Iamaleava by a pretty significant margin. The Ducks had a 53.2% chance of earning a commitment from Iamaleava, according to the On3 RPM.

Then Iamaleava took an unofficial visit to Tennessee.

While in Knoxville, Iamaleava was the center of attention with “We want Nico” chants Saturday at a men’s basketball game. Furthermore, he was welcomed to town with the famous rock on campus emblazoned with “We want Nico” on it.

It was an impressive visit, to say the least.

It was such an impressive visit that the Volunteers now lead in Nico Iamaleava’s recruitment, according to the On3 RPM.

Tennessee now has a 45.5% chance of landing Iamaleava, the On3 RPM says. That’s up 36.6% since last week and is largely fueled by a 60% prediction for the Volunteers from On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons.

Oregon is still a significant factor in the race with a 31.3% chance. Alabama is listed at 9.4%, followed by Georgia at 7.4% and UCLA at 3.4%.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college.

It factors in machine learning, expert predictions, social sentiment, visits, and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

Nico Iamaleava ‘blown away‘ by Tennessee’s hospitality

The Tennessee faithful did everything they could to impress Nico Iamaleava during his three-day visit to Knoxville, Simmons said on Wednesday. It was noticed by Iamaleava.

“I thought the hospitality was great — that Southern hospitality definitely is real,” Iamaleava told Simmons. “The people down south in Knoxville were great people all around.”

Iamaleava said the chants at the basketball game made a huge impact on his family, especially his mother.

“She got teary-eyed with the Nico chants and stuff,” Iamaleava said. “She had a great time every night.”

This was Iamaleava’s second visit to Rocky Top after a trip in November, which he has previously said was a great trip. The Volunteers jumped up his rankings after that visit and this trip has further cemented Tennessee as the main contender for his services.

Iamaleava was originally scheduled to Georgia this weekend, but he had a change of plans because of 7-on-7 play. Most believe Iamaleava will have a commitment out of the way this spring.

The On3 Consensus — a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies — has Iamaleava as the No. 5 overall recruit in the country. He’s also the No. 3 quarterback and second-best player in California, per the On3 Consensus.

Nico Iamaleava currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $55,000. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time. Iamaleava ranks No. 41 in the High School Football NIL Rankings.