The Volunteer Club signs NIL deal with Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava

Nico Iamaleava gave Tennessee a major victory on the recruiting trail when he committed in March.

The five-star quarterback turned down offers from nearly every major program. He gave the Volunteers validation on the recruiting trail immediately, helping the Vols coaching staff piece together the rest of the 2023 class.

The top-ranked player in the nation according to On3, Iamaleava quickly became the face of the Tennessee football program’s future. He arrived in Knoxville in December, practicing with the team for two weeks before the Orange Bowl win.

The most highly-touted quarterback recruit on Rocky Top since Peyton Manning, he is expected to challenge Joe Milton for the starting job. But before the competition begins this spring, he has inked an NIL deal with The Volunteer Club.

Run by Spyre Sports Group, the NIL collective supports Tennessee student-athletes through a monthly membership program. To date, it’s distributed more than $4.5 million to athletes. As part of his deal with the club, Iamaleava will make appearances at a number of events and promote the organization on social media.

“The arm talent popped out on the practice field in December immediately,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel recently told On3’s Chad Simmons. “I had seen it in person, but the rest of our staff and players, they saw that God-given talent right away. After getting time to work with him in practices, he has a great understanding of his body. If you make a correction or make a suggestion about changing his body position, he will immediately make that correction.”

Iamaleava impressed in the Polynesian Bowl last weekend in Honolulu. He was named offensive MVP, completing 13 of 20 passes for 186 yards with a touchdown and interception. He rushed for 65 yards on just five carries, too.

When he verbally committed back in March, the quarterback stole headlines not for his commitment but because of NIL. As The Athletic has since reported, the California native reportedly signed a deal that could see him make $8 million over three years.

“We are excited to add this new group of athletes to our roster,” Spyre co-founder James Clawson told On3 in a text. “We want to continue to build off Tennessee’s great season and be able to provide opportunities for our fans to interact with our student athletes.”

Nico Iamaleava’s On3 NIL Valuation

The Tennessee quarterback has an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.2 million. The valuation ranks No. 12 in the On3 NIL 100, which is the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

His social media following has only jumped since his commitment back in March. He has nearly 330,000 total followers, with 140,000 on TikTok and another 164,000 on Instagram.

Iamaleava’s valuation has seen steady growth over the past 10 weeks with an $81,000 increase.

The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets the standard market NIL value for high school and college athletes. A proprietary algorithm, the On3 NIL Valuation calculates an athlete’s NIL value using dynamic data points targeting three primary categories: performance, influence and exposure.

About On3 NIL Valuation, Brand Value, Roster Value

While the algorithm includes deal data, it does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals athletes have completed to date, nor does it set an athlete’s NIL valuation for their entire career.

The On3 NIL Valuation accounts for an athlete’s roster value and brand value. Roster value is the value an athlete has by being a member of his or her team at his or her school, which factors into the role of NIL collectives. Brand value factors in an athlete’s personal brand and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.