5-Star Texas A&M Defensive Lineman's Father Vehemently Denies Family's Involvement In Tennessee Cheating Scandal

Texas A&M defensive tackle Walter Nolen has been at the center of scandal involving the University of Tennessee since 2020. His father claims that nothing illegal occurred.

Reports out of Knoxville say otherwise.

Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Walter Nolen(Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Nolen, the No. 2 overall recruit in the Class of 2022, could have gone anywhere in the country. The Volunteers were high on his radar and made it into his final five.

During the recruiting process, Nolen took multiple visits to Knoxville. According to Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel, one of those visits occurred during an NCAA-mandated recruiting dead period because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details of the visits were outlined in a report by the NCAA on Friday, which handed down its verdict after a year-long investigation. Tennessee got off pretty easy, all things considered.

Nolen's name was not directly referenced in the report. The Knoxville News Sentinel was able to connect the dots by cross-referencing the details with an anonymous source who has direct knowledge of the incident.

Tennessee bankrolled much of Walter Nolen's alleged trip.

The NCAA report said that an unnamed recruit, his family, and his high school coach received $2,677 in recruiting inducements during a visit from Oct. 8-12, 2020. The visit was arranged a few weeks prior by Tennessee's former director of recruiting and was one of six illegal visits during the COVID dead period.

It included two hotel rooms for three nights, which totaled $717. It also included approximately $1,000 in meals, $70 to go bowling, $250 in Volunteers-branded gear, $270 for a trip to the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg and $238 at a local arcade.

Funds dwindled near the end of the trip, which led Tennessee's director of recruiting to text staff members for extra cash. All of this was outlined in the NCAA's report.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Nolen and his family were the ones on that visit. Thus, if it was Nolen on the visit, he and his family would have received the impermissible benefits.

Nolen's father, who is also named Walter, denied the report.

Short and simple… It never happened… GO AGGIES!!!!!

He did not respond when the Bryan College Station Eagle asked him to further clarify his comments.

To further muddy the waters, NIL money was rumored to have played a big role in Nolen's recruitment. Texas A&M's sizable bankroll is not a secret at this point and his commitment helped the Aggies to achieve the highest-ranked recruiting class of all-time.

Nolen said that NIL was not the driving factor in his decision and threw Tennessee under the bus.

If I was looking for NIL money, I would have came to UT. The NIL stuff is fun, it's on the side, but I'm a football player. That's where my heart at.

As of this writing, Walter Nolen has not commented on his ties to Tennessee's NCAA sanctions, if there are any. His father did so on his behalf, though.