In his senior year at Powell, he had 93 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 27 quarterback hurries, and 17 sacks.[3] He was rated by ESPN as the No. 1 football recruit in the 2022 recruiting class.[4] He was ranked No. 2 by Rivals.com and 247Sports, behind Travis Hunter.[3][5]
After his senior year, he was invited to play in the Under Armour All-America Game.[3] In July 2022, he was named Defensive Football Player of the Year by USA Today. He was also rated by USA Today as the country's No. 1 recruit for 2022.[6]
College career
Nolen received offers from numerous schools and narrowed his final five to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Tennessee.[1] In November 2021, Nolen committed to play college football for Texas A&M.[7] He later paid an official visit to Tennessee, raising speculation that his commitment was uncertain. He then signed his letter of intent with Texas A&M in December 2021.[8][9] He was part of a recruiting class at Texas A&M that was rated as the best in the history of recruiting rankings.[10]
On December 3, 2023, Nolen announced his intentions to transfer from Texas A&M.[11]
On December 24, 2023, Nolen announced his commitment to Ole Miss and signed his national letter of intent.[12]