The hottest topic in East Tennessee right now might be the arrival of Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava at UT.

Iamaleava, of course, is the 2023 five-star phenom QB who committed to the Vols last spring. He's the centerpiece of Josh Heupel's first top-10 recruiting class at Tennessee.

The California native arrived in Knoxville last week and he's already practicing with the team as the Vols prepare to head to Miami for a matchup against Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

Earlier this week, Vols redshirt senior tight end Jacob Warren spoke to Off the Hook Sports' Dave Hooker about all things Tennessee. The topic of Nico, unsurprisingly, came up.

Warren had plenty to say about the Vols' latest addition, including some comments about Iamaleava's character and attitude.

Some great insight from Vols TE Jacob Warren on Nico Iamaleava’s attitude and character during his weekly appearance with ⁦@OTHSportsMedia⁩. I especially love the story about how Nico treats kickers and specialists. The kid has the stuff on and off the field to be elite. pic.twitter.com/2YpMtohpEx

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) December 23, 2022

"The first time I actually met him in person was in the facilities, he was on a visit one weekend and was with a couple of his family members and I go to meet him and he stands up out of his chair…as I probably would if I were to meet someone new," said Warren.

"Never once have I gotten that energy that he necessarily feels like he's better than anybody," added Warren. "Or that he deserves anything. He kind of just come in and been himself. He's not a quiet person necessarily, but he hasn't caused a lot of waves. He hasn't stirred a lot up. Just him being here hasn't taken anything away from this program, which is all you can really ask. He's really just come in and trying to acclimate himself and become comfortable with all the guys."

Warren also noted that Iamaleava is nice to the kickers and the specialists — which isn't always the case at programs (according to Warren).

"I can appreciate when people are nice to our kickers and specialists," said Warren. "I'm really good friends with all of our kickers and our specialists. So to me, it's normal to be nice to them. But that's not how it is in a lot of programs — not a lot, but a lot of the times it's like 'it's just the kickers, whatever'. But this program does a really good job of embracing them."

"Nico is surrounded by them in our little locker area and he's awesome like he's very nice to all of them," added Warren. "As he should be — I don't want to put him on a pedestal, but I appreciate him and his genuineness and how kind he is to people."

That story from Warren gives me the vibes that Nico is the type of player that treats everyone in the building with respect — from the janitor to the athletic director.

There was noise from outside of Tennessee's program that Nico, who was rumored to have signed a NIL deal worth $8 million when he committed to UT, would have a "big head" because of the hype he received during the recruiting process.

But it sounds like nothing could be further from the truth. So far, Nico has proven to be an incredibly humble player who handles business the right way. He has all the attributes — both on the field and off the field — to be a superstar in the SEC.

And if he turns out to be the superstar that many think he will be, it could mean an end to Tennessee's SEC Championship drought.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK