There's been plenty of speculation over the last couple of months that 2023 five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava committed to the Tennessee Vols because of an $8 million NIL deal.

We don't know, officially, if the rumors about Iamaleava and the $8 million NIL deal are accurate or not.

But even if those rumors are true, there are other reasons why Iamaleava committed to Tennessee.

For starters, he loves the city of Knoxville. Nico feels like it's different than other college towns, including Athens and Tuscaloosa.

“The people in Knoxville are just great people all-around,” said Iamaleava to Rivals.com this week. “I don’t think you’d get that anywhere else in the South other than Knoxville. I went all over, been to Bama, been to Georgia, and Knoxville was just different."

“The interactions I had with just the people at the hotel, just 'How you doing? What are you here for?’ You don’t get that at any other spot. The people of Knoxville are great and I love the city of Knoxville. Nashville is right there so all-around I had the perfect choice.”

5-star QB commit Nico Iamaleava on what excites him most about Tennessee:

“The fans. Giving the fans what they are waiting for. If you’ve been to (Neyland Stadium) you know that crowd is electric, just playing in front of that crowd and winning games.”pic.twitter.com/IUnhpg2v8Y

— that SEC podcast (@thatSECpodcast) June 12, 2022

Another reason Iamaleava chose Tennessee was because Vols head coach Josh Heupel played quarterback in college, something that isn't true of the other head coaches recruiting the California native.

“If you really do your homework, (Heupel) is the only head coach who actually played quarterback that was part of Nico’s recruitment," said Iamaleava's father.

“A lot of dudes recruiting him never played quarterback at a high level. They don’t know the experiences he’s going through. I don’t know what he’s going through, what he’s going to go through emotionally, mentally, so I needed to surround him with men, grown men, great coaches that are going to surround my son and help with his development not only on the field but off the field to grow as a person. Those three men along with their assistants, they’re going to be surrounding my son that I’ve met and spent a lot of time with over the last seven, eight months.”

There's obviously a lot more than just NIL money that went into the Vols landing a commitment from Iamaleava.

Heupel and his staff deserve a lot of credit for the relationship they built with Iamaleava during the recruiting process.

By the way, if a collective associated with Tennessee agreed to hook Iamaleava up with a NIL deal, you can be assured that collectives associated with other programs were making similar offers. That's how it goes in college football, which means building relationships with recruits is just as important as it's ever been.

Featured image via Twitter.com