Tennessee Vols: Why 5-star QB Nico Iamaleava's top 5 is really a top 3
2023 five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava revealed his top five schools on Wednesday evening and he included the Tennessee Vols, along with Alabama, Georgia, Miami, and Oregon. There might be five schools on that list, but I think we can view this top five as a top three. That's because I think we can remove two […]
2023 five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava revealed his top five schools on Wednesday evening and he included the Tennessee Vols, along with Alabama, Georgia, Miami, and Oregon.
There might be five schools on that list, but I think we can view this top five as a top three.
That's because I think we can remove two programs from Iameleava's list.
Alabama and Georgia.
Not the schools you were expecting, right?
Iamaleavea is placing huge importance on being "wanted". Fan reaction is important to him (Tennessee is definitely winning when it comes to which fan base is showing him the most the love).
"I want to go where I’m loved," said Iamaleava to Rivals.com in early February.
Being wanted, however, extends past the fan base. The school itself has to want Iamaleava, too.
And while Alabama and Georgia would love to have Iamaleava, he's not their top priority.
2023 five-star quarterback Arch Manning is the top recruiting target for Alabama and Georgia. Iamaleavea is essentially the backup plan.
It's hard for me to see Iamaleava signing with a program that viewed him as a backup plan.
There's also the fact that Iamaleava is set to commit in April or May, months before Manning is expected to commit. Manning's timeline seemingly rules out Alabama and Georgia, as taking a commitment from Iamaleava would put either of those programs out of the Arch Manning sweepstakes.
Things can obviously change. But for now, I think it's Tennessee, Oregon, and Miami that are the three legitimate threats to land Iamaleava.
The Vols should be the favorites right now. But we can't rule out Oregon (proximity to Iamaleava's native California) or Miami (Mario Cristobal is an elite recruiter, plus the Hurricanes have a solid NIL program).
These next couple of months will show us how good of a "closer" Vols head coach Josh Heupel is when it comes to elite recruits.
Tennessee has a golden opportunity with Iamaleava. He's the type of player that can speed up the Vols' return to greatness. Tennessee can't afford to get this far down the road with Iamaleava and then miss out on him.
Featured image via Rivals.com
