The latest recruiting update from 247Sports spells out good news for Tennessee quarterback commit Nico Iamaleava.
On Tuesday evening, 247 announced a brand-new system for their recruiting rankings, which saw the number of five-star players go from 15 players up to 32 players.
One of the beneficiaries of 247’s update is none other than the top recruit in Tennessee’s 2023 class – five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
When you’re the 3rd-ranked player in the class, there’s not a ton of room for drastic movement. But any movement is significant. 247’s latest update has Iamaleava going from the No. 3 overall player in the class to the No. 2 overall recruit in the class.
The 6-foot-5, 195-pound pocket passer from Downey, California is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 2 player in the class, the No. 2 quarterback in the class, and the No. 1 player from the state of California.
Nico Iamaleava only trails five-star quarterback Arch Manning in 247’s updated rankings.
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With a new overall rating of 0.9972, Iamaleava is the fourth-highest all-time Tennessee commit according to 247. The future Tennessee quarterback only trails running back Bryce Brown (0.9992), safety Eric Berry (0.9986), and defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie (0.9972).
During his final high school season, Iamaleava racked up 1,986 yards, 25 passing touchdowns, and just five interceptions on 119-of-199 passing. The element of Iamaleava’s game that was really expanded upon this year, though, was his ability to scramble and run out of the pocket. Iamaleava collected the third-most rushing yards on the Warren HS team last season with 399 yards and six touchdowns on 46 attempts.
Iamaleava’s 399 rushing yards is nearly 250 more yards than he ran for during the 2021 season and more than 350 more than he ran for during the 2020 season.
Both On3 Sports and Rivals also have the same rankings for Nico Iamaleava that 247Sports now has. All three publications have Iamaleava as the second-ranked player in the class, the second-ranked quarterback behind Manning, and the top player representing the Golden State.
In August, during an interview with the Long Beach Press Telegram’s John W. Davis, Iamaleava did confirm that he was on track to graduate early and enroll at Tennessee as soon as possible.
Nico Iamaleava originally committed to Tennessee back in March and has been a staple of the Vols’ 2023 class for nearly the entire 2022 year.
Check out some of Iamaleava’s top highlights from the 2022 high school football season here.
