Tennessee five-star quarterback commit Nico Iamaleava has been dazzling scouts and fans alike this spring with his play during various 7-on-7 tournaments. In April, Iamaleava and his team flew to Knoxville from California and won the weekend Pylon 7-on-7 tournament held at Knoxville’s Farragut High School.
Now, Iamaleava is set to return to the Volunteer State this weekend. According to a Twitter post on Wednesday, Iamaleava will be participating in the Elite 11 Regional competition this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. The event will be held at Lipscomb Academy on Sunday, May 15.
“Founded in 1999, the Elite 11 is the premier quarterback event in the nation, bringing together the nation’s top signal callers each offseason to compete and improve their skill set both on and off-the-field,” the Elite 11 website states. “This spring, the Elite 11 is bringing the top-notch training and instruction that has been available for 20+ years to the nation’s top rising senior quarterbacks, and also making it accessible to younger quarterbacks driven to be their best at Elite 11 Academy.”
I’ll be in Nashville this weekend at the Elite 11! VOL Nation come out and support🍊😎 @Elite11 @GregBiggins @ChadSimmons_ @adamgorney @Stumpf_Brian pic.twitter.com/VAxPWtAceS
— 🇼🇸Nicholaus Iamaleava Jr.🇦🇸 (@nico_iamaleava8) May 11, 2022
Nico Iamaleava: ‘All In’: Nico Iamaleava Holding Strong in Commitment to Tennessee
The Elite 11 camps are a wide range of workouts that culminate in a quarterback competition for the top rising senior quarterbacks in the class. Iamaleava will compete in a regional competition this weekend with some of the top participants potentially advancing to the Elite 11 Quarterback Finals this summer.
“The Elite 11 Regionals are designed to help elite high school quarterbacks with college potential advance their football and training knowledge in order to maximize their ability,” Elite 11’s website states. “Participants are taught position-specific and athletic performance drills designed by some of the top quarterback coaches and sports performance specialists in America. The players will have an opportunity to work with The Elite 11 coaching staff that have helped mold stars such as Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Jared Goff, Tua Tagovailoa, Bryce Young and many, many more. In addition, top performers will have a chance to qualify for a spot at the 24th annual Elite 11 Quarterback Finals, held each summer.”
Leading up to the Elite 11 Quarterback Finals are two sets of events between the regional camps and the Academy events during the spring.
According to Elite 11’s website, the Academy events are camps for quarterbacks in the classes of 2025-2028 while the regional events are a five-hour camp for the top 2023 quarterbacks in the class with workouts including “testing and position-specific instruction by some of the top quarterback coaches and mentors in the nation.”
“The Elite 11 QB Academy events are instructional and developmental-based events open to all younger quarterbacks in the graduating classes of 2025-2028 and have a specific curriculum tailored towards that age group,” the Elite 11 organization states. “The Elite 11 QB regionals are designed for the nation’s top quarterbacks in the Class of 2023 with a few outstanding underclassmen as well, to both compete and learn while being evaluated for an opportunity to be selected for the Elite 11 finals.”
Nashville will host both a regional and one-day Academy event this upcoming Sunday with Tennessee commit Nico Iamaleava participating in the regional.
There are a large number of success stories from the Elite 11 camp dating back for years and years. However, it is not a competition that Tennessee is unfamiliar with. The Vols have had nine Elite 11 quarterback competition competitors since the event began: Casey Clausen (1999), John Rattay (1999), Jonathan Crompton (2004), Tyler Bray (2009), Joshua Dobbs (2012), Jarrett Guarantano (2015), Brian Maurer (2018), Harrison Bailey (2019), and Tayven Jackson (2021).
Joshua Dobbs also did return to the Elite 11 competition in 2015 and 2016 as a counselor/coach.
Tennessee commit Nico Iamaleava currently ranks as the No. 4 player in the class, the No. 3 quarterback in the class, and the No. 2 player from California in the class of 2023 according to On3 Sports.
The Elite 11 Quarterback Finals will be held this summer at a date that is to be announced.
Will be in Nashville this weekend for the Elite11 on Sunday. @nico_iamaleava8 @MaddenIamaleava @Nic_Iamaleava VOL Nation come hang out with us. #GBO 🍊 https://t.co/o5MdDNVSQG
— CoachCordell Landers (@TheRBCoach) May 11, 2022
