Walter Nolen, a five-star defensive lineman who is high on Tennessee football’s priority list, has recently been named the top-ranked recruit in the ESPN Top 300 rankings.
Nolen is also the top-ranked 2022 recruit according to 247 Sports and 247 Sports Composite. Although, he is the sixth-ranked player according to Rivals.
Honored to be named the #1 overall player of the class of 22 by @ESPN @UnderArmour 🎉🎉 pic.twitter.com/p7kygDpkfx
— Walter Nolen9️⃣🏈🏈 (@WalterNolen4) July 15, 2021
Nolen tweeted out his movement in the ESPN rankings on Thursday. He is currently the only player in the ESPN Top 25 that is from the state of Tennessee.
The Cordova, TN native recently released his top-five list on July 9.
His top five consisted of Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Michigan.
Interestingly, Nolen’s original top-eight rankings did not include Tennessee. However, after the addition of Rodney Garner to the Tennessee staff, Tennessee abruptly entered the mix.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound talented 2022 defensive lineman is the top-ranked recruit for a reason. Nolen is a disruptive force on the football field. He is the type of player that can immediately change the course of a program.
Nolen played his junior season at St. Benedict at Auburndale. In fact, former Tennessee defensive lineman Marlon Walls was his coach that year. Walls spent two years coaching the team and resigned after the 2020 season.
The top-ranked overall prospect in the class of 2022 has taken two visits so far. He first visited Florida on June 4. Nolen then followed that with a visit to Michigan on June 18.
According to 247 Sports, Rodney Garner and Jerry Mack are the two lead recruiters for the defensive lineman.
Walter Nolen would be the second-highest commit in Tennessee football history if he does land in Knoxville. He is currently graded at 0.9991, whereas running back Bryce Brown was graded at 0.9992 in 2009.
4 Responses
Surely hope this new staff is successful. Many on This staff including Danny were successful here at UCF and There is no doubt in my mind they will be successful at Tennessee. Year one is going to be somewhat difficult going up against the Alabama’s, Georgia’s Florida’s etc. but they didn’t believe David could whip Goliaths butt either but Lo and behold down went the big guy.
Buckle up it will soon be “Football Time In Tennessee “.
Yes football time in Tennessee. Memorable, often poetic, lyrical and …. Biblical. The story of David and Goliath is more like if Vandy whipped Bama.
LET US NOT FORGET ONE OF IF NOT THE OLDEST SAYINGS AROUND SPORTS.
ANY TEAM CAN BE DEFEATED BY ANY OTHER TEAM ON ANY GIVEN DAY !!!!!
IT SEEMS TO ME AS TIME GOES ON, THAT FAMOUS SAYING IS BEING FORGOTTEN… SO, YOUNGER READERS REMEMBER WHAT THIS OLD MAN SAID TODAY, ESPECIALLY THE ONES WHO SAY/THINK, AWWW, SO & SO CAN’T/WON’T BEAT SO & SO NO MATTER WHAT/WHEN… DON’T BE TO SHOCKED WHEN SOME UPSETS TAKE PLACE THIS SEASON THAT YOU THOUGHT COULD/WOULD NEVER HAPPEN…
YA HEARD ME ? LOL !!!
GO BIG ORANGE
P.S.
WALTER NOLEN, COME ON HOME TO TENNESSEE WHERE THE LOVE WILL SHOW, THE RESPECT WILL BE GIVEN, AND WEAR THE TRUE ORANGE CROWN THAT KINGS DESERVE ! ! !