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Nico Iamaleava couldn’t have asked for a better way to officially kick off his career with the Tennessee Volunteers.

With this year’s starter, Joe Milton III, sitting out the Citrus Bowl after declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft, Iamaleava was thrust into the spotlight as a true freshman.

A five-star quarterback recruit, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel trusted Iamaleava with the bowl game start against a generally very good Iowa defense — and the true freshman delivered and more.

He was the superstar of Tennessee’s 35-0 win.

Iamaleava gashed Iowa with his legs, running 15 times for 27 yards with three touchdowns. He was unstoppable in the red zone thanks to his ability to take off and run.

For good measure, he completed 12 of 19 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown — finishing with four touchdowns total.

That’s one heck of a first start for a freshman quarterback, and he was so good that he caught the eye of former Tennessee star quarterback Hendon Hooker.

While he wasn’t Peyton Manning, Hooker was a star for the Vols in two seasons, throwing for 6,060 yards and 58 touchdowns with just five interceptions, while also rushing for 1,050 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

Hooker was great for Tennessee, and he (like the rest of us) already sees greatness in Iamaleava.

Everything Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack said after Vols’ win over Ole Miss

Vols forward Jonas Aidoo and guard Jahmai Mashack met with the media following Tennessee basketball’s dominant win over Ole Miss to begin conference play.

No. 5 Tennessee dominated No. 22 Ole Miss, 90-64, on Saturday night in front of a sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

The Vols were led by double-doubles from forward Jonas Aidoo and Zakai Zeigler, while Santiago Vescovi and Jahmai Mashack also reached double-digits on the night.

Aidoo scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. The junior grabbed five offensive rebounds and dished out two assists in 31 minutes of action despite dealing with a slight calf strain.

Zeigler dished out 10 assists and scored 17 points for his sixth career point-assist double-double to set a new program record. The junior shot 6-of-13 from the floor, 4-of-11 from three and grabbed five rebounds to go along with a block and a steal.

Vescovi and Mashack were the only other Vols to reach double-figures. Vescovi scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor, dished out four assists and grabbed four rebounds, while Mashack scored 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from three, grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists, picked up two steals and blocked a shot, respectively.

Aidoo and Mashack met with the media following the win to discuss what went well for the Vols. Here’s everything they had to say.

Mashack on his three-pointer at the buzzer going into halftime:

“It was really just, if it comes to me, I’m shooting it. I’ve worked a lot on my game, especially my shooting. So it’s about time that I have confidence in it. Just work and putting it into fruition on the floor and I think that’s what happened. I knew the ball was coming to me, so just shoot it. You’re gonna make it. You work on these shots. So I think that’s all that went into that.

“It wasn’t actually a lot of mechanical changes. It was just make sure I get under the ball, make sure my guide hand is where it is. But it was really just all confidence, just making sure that if you’re a confident shooter and you put in the reps, it’s gonna come out in the game. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. And it’s exactly why I’m not surprised that shots are coming in and shots are falling, ‘cause that’s what’s supposed to happen when you give to the game, it’s gonna give back to you.”

“Well, knowing Jonas for as long as I’ve known him, I knew he was gonna be this good. Like, it is not a surprise to me that he comes in there and he goes against these bigs and it’s tough for him because Jonas has such a soft touch. He can use both his hands. He can shoot the ball, he can drive, he can back you down. And he’s a great offensive rebounder. So when you have to deal with all that as a big, and you gotta worry about the guards coming in, it’s tough, it’s tough and it’s not a second thought that when I’m feeding Jones the ball, I just cut to the basket, get out the way, and he’s gonna find a way to score. So he’s been effective for us for the last couple games and he’s gonna continue to be effective for us, you know, throughout the whole season.”