5-star California-based quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been the talk of the offseason in Knoxville. He made a huge splash in the college football world at large when he committed to Tennessee on March 21st. Since that day, he’s turned his sights toward getting other elite recruits like himself to play their college football in Knoxville. Nico came back to town on April 8th and hung out with visiting prospects and has even publicly tweeted at other recruits about their interest in the Vols…
Nico reportedly will be in Knoxville once again for Memorial Day weekend, but the holiday won’t be the main focus of his time in the city. This weekend is set to be an absolutely huge few days for UT’s recruiting efforts. A miles-long list of top-notch prospects will be visiting Tennessee’s program, officially and unofficially. Players like 5-star offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, 5-star edge rusher Chandavian Bradley, and 4-star defensive lineman Hunter Osborne will all be in attendance.
And this is exactly where Nico can make a large impact on Vol football before he’s even enrolled at UT. If a weekend like this one can be used to convince any number of these elite prospects to commit to Tennessee, it could be a program-changing time for Josh Heupel and his staff.
Nico has been and continues to be a charismatic and key component of selling UT to other players. Getting a recruiting sales pitch from a coach is fine and can be effective but there’s no doubt that hearing about a program from a fellow recruit, especially one that is among the most high-profile in America, could be huge in the minds of undecided prospects.
A lot has been said about Nico’s ability as a quarterback, he’s obviously incredibly talented. But Nico’s potential ability as a recruiter should not be discounted. The commitment of Nico alone was an incredible feat for Heupel and the Vols but if he can also be utilized to recruit even just a few other big-time players to Knoxville, Nico would bring incredible value to UT even if he never plays a down for the Vols. We’ll see this weekend and in the coming weeks if Nico might be as good of a recruiter as he already is a quarterback.
On this week’s Big Orange Podcast, Zach Ragan and I went in-depth on this important weekend and how big Nico could ultimately be for Tennessee’s recruiting. Check out the conversation in the YouTube video below
