Aggies DL Walter Nolen Named in Tennessee Volunteers Recruiting Scandal
As the Texas A&M Aggies football program prepares for what many will be a bounce-back season under coach Jimbo Fisher and new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, an A&M player finds himself in the news.
The Tennessee Volunteers football program is in the middle of one of the largest recruiting scandals in recent memory. Former head coach Jeremy Pruitt is accused of applying over $60,000 of "impermissible benefits" to a number of recruits during his three years at the helm from 2018 to 2020.
This week, the Knoxville News Sentinel identified one of the previously unnamed recruits that was a recipient of said benefits, as current Aggies linebacker Walter Nolen. It's reported that Nolen and his family received at least $3,000 from Pruitt during a recruiting visit in October 2020. Nolen was ranked as the No. 1 overall player nationally per On3 for the class of 2022. The 6-4, 345-pound defensive lineman committed to Texas A&M in November 2021 after several visits to College Station, including a visit to Kyle Field for the Aggies' win over then-No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 9.
Per the Knoxville News Sentinel, “The in-person visit was outlined Friday when the NCAA announced its verdict after a yearslong probe into Pruitt’s program. The impermissible visit and benefits were among the more than 200 violations committed by Pruitt and his staff that resulted in a five-year probation for UT and at least $8 million in fines, as well as restrictions on scholarships and recruiting.”
The Knoxville News Sentinel did note that Nolen isn't named by the NCAA in any documents pertaining to the scandal that were obtained by a public records request. Travis Brown with the Bryan-College Station Eagle reached out to Nolen's family and published a quote from Nolen that simply stated, "Short and simple… it never happened… GO AGGIES!!!!!"
Texas A&M will kick off its 2023 season on Sept. 2 by hosting the New Mexico Lobos at Kyle Field.
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