Tennessee makes big rankings jump after Nico Iamaleava commitment

Second-year Tennessee coach Josh Heupel secured the Volunteers’ biggest commitment in more than a decade on Monday by landing five-star Long Beach (Calif.) Poly quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder chose Tennessee over offers from Oregon, Georgia, Alabama, Miami, UCLA and others. He becomes the highest-ranked Vols commitment in the On3 Consensus rankings dating back to 2007, when former head coach Phillip Fulmer landed No. 1 overall prospect Eric Berry.

Nico Iamaleava adds to strong 2023 class

His pledge also pushes a solid start to Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class into even more impressive territory. With just five prospects committed thus far, the Vols now rank No. 11 in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings. Previously sitting at No. 18, Tennessee jumped the likes of Iowa, Baylor, Texas A&M, Michigan State and others up onto the cusp of the top 10.

In addition to Iamaleava, the Vols have commitments from top-100 tight end prospect Ethan Davis, three-star lineman Ayden Bussell, three-star safety Jack Luttrell, and in-state wideout Nate Spillman. With their quarterback now in the fold, Tennessee will now turn its attention to landing weapons to put around him.

“I will be back at Tennessee on April 8 when a lot of other recruits will be there,” Nico Iamaleava told On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons. I am going to work on a lot of top players and I think some will come with me. Carnell Tate, Kyler Kasper, Tony Mitchell and many more are guys I am already working on. … I am going to try to flip some guys from other schools and make this Tennessee class as good as it can be. There is a lot to like about Tennessee.”

After closing out an impressive top-20 class a year ago, Heupel and Co. are dreaming big in 2023. And with one of the country’s best quarterbacks locked in, those dreams just might become reality.