Five star football recruit Walter Nolen released his top five schools Friday with Tennessee making the cut. Josh Heupel and the Vols joined Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Michigan in Nolen’s top five.
Tennessee was not included in Nolen’s top eight that he released on April 2 but the Vols have been able to climb back in the hunt in large part due to new defensive line coach Rodney Garner.
Nolen ranks as the No. 3 player in the country and No. 1 defensive lineman in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. The 6-foot-4, 300 pound blue chip recruit made a plethora of visits in June, seeing Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Michigan.
Nolen is a Memphis native and played his junior season at St. Benedict at Auburndale under former Tennessee defensive lineman Marlon Walls.
The state of Tennessee’s top player has announced that he won’t play his senior season at St. Benedict but Nolen hasn’t announced the school he intends to play at. There has been speculation of Nolen playing his senior season in Knoxville or at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida but the defensive lineman has not made a decision or released a timeline of when he will.
