5-Star Plus+ DL Walter Nolen visiting Tennessee this weekend

Powell (Tenn.) High Five-Star Plus+ defensive lineman Walter Nolen has been planning on spending his final official visit at Tennessee after the regular season ended.

He will officially take that visit this weekend, his father told 247 Sports.

Nolen has visited Tennessee twice this season, on Oct. 16 and Nov. 13.

The latter visit came after he committed to the Texas A&M. Nolen announced his comment while in College Station, Texas, on Nov. 6. Missouri City (Texas) Fort Bend four-star wide receiver Chris Marshall also committed to the Aggies that day, making it one of the biggest single-day recruiting coups over the last few years.

Texas A&M jumped from No. 9 to No. 3 in the 2022 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking, and the recruiting class has only continued to get better over the last few weeks.

The Aggies have four five-star recruits in the class in Nolen, Frisco (Texas) Liberty wide receiver Evan Stewart, Beaumont (Texas) West Brook safety Bryce Anderson and Cypress (Texas) Bridgeland quarterback Conner Weigman. That is tied for the most in the country with Alabama.

Walter Nolen has also done some informal recruiting on Twitter, including saying he wants to play with Opa Locka (Fla.) Monsignor Pace five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart and even teasing some forthcoming commitments Tuesday morning.

Despite all that, there is a belief that Nolen could flip to the Volunteers. On3’s Chad Simmons says this recruitment “won’t be over until Nolen signs.”

Josh Heupel has turned around the program in his first year on the job as the Vols are set to play in their second bowl game over the past five seasons.

Tennessee has the No. 20 overall recruiting class in the country. Nolen would be the Volunteers biggest recruiting win in years and immediately become a face of the program.