Tennessee fans welcome Nico Iamaleava by painting 'The Rock'

Downey (Calif.) Warren five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava would be the biggest recruiting coup for Tennessee in years.

The top-five recruit is heading to Knoxville this weekend for another visit to the school, and everyone on campus is doing their part to try and land Iamaleava.

That includes painting the rock on campus orange with “We Want Nico” emblazoned on it.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The Rock, which is a 97.5-ton hunk of Knox dolomite stone, is a Tennessee landmark. Students have been painting it for over 40 years.

Iamaleava has previously visited Tennessee during the school year during the final week of the season, and came away impressed with the team and the school.

“The atmosphere was wild like you would expect at any SEC game,” Iamaleava told On3’s Chad Simmons. “The fans are crazy over their team and I think that is something anybody would look forward to. Knowing their fans are going to go crazy every play is exciting.”

Nico Iamaleava is planning on making a decision soon

The 2023 recruiting class is one of the best in recent memory for quarterbacks and it is believed Iamaleava will be the next quarterback domino to fall.

“I am probably going to commit in April,” Iamaleava told On3. “At the latest, I will commit in May. I know I am getting closer and I want to be committed early in the spring.”

That makes his visit to Tennessee even more important for the Volunteers coaching staff as it may be the last time he sees the campus before announcing his decision.

Landing a player like Iamaleava would be a game changer for the emerging program. The On3 Consensus – a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies – has the 6-foot-6 quarterback as the No. 5 overall recruit in the country.

On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Power compared Iamaleava to current Los Angeles Charges quarterback and rising NFL star Justin Herbert.

“Nico Iamaleava has some of the more impressive raw physical tools we’ve seen from a quarterback over the last few cycles,” Power said. “The 6-foot-6, 200-pounder has a huge arm with the ability to drive the ball to multiple levels with ease. He’s also a bouncy, light-footed athlete and doubles as a top volleyball player. Herbert didn’t have the recruiting pedigree of Iamaleava, but was (and still is) a high-upside physical talent. Taller quarterbacks can tend to struggle with movement skills or longer throwing motions, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with Iamaleava.”