Bru McCoy is back on his feet for Tennessee football, and just in time to finally catch passes from Nico Iamaleava.

It’s an intriguing partnership between a pair of former five-star recruits from Southern California. And it once seemed improbable to Iamaleava, who idolized McCoy when he was younger.

“When I was younger, I thought Bru was the greatest high school player of all time,” Iamaleava said. “He was the first guy I’d ever seen play receiver and (defensive end) at the same time. Seeing him come off the edge and have five sacks and then go score three touchdowns was crazy for me to watch.”

Iamaleava is 19 and a redshirt freshman quarterback from Long Beach, California. McCoy, 24, grew up about 20 miles away in Rolling Hills Estates, California. He is a sixth-year senior wide receiver who’s supposed to already be in the NFL.

But when McCoy suffered a severe ankle injury to end his 2023 season, his pro football plans were put on hold and the possibility of him teaming up with Iamaleava became real.

It’ll become reality when Tennessee kicks off the season against Chattanooga on Aug. 31 (12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

Bru McCoy says he's back from injury

McCoy said that possibility of playing with Iamaleava helped accelerate his offseason rehab.

“You want to be available for a guy like Nico, especially since I didn’t get the opportunity for those reps in the spring with him,” McCoy said. “It was the motivation for me to keep pushing it.”

McCoy suffered the injury on Sept. 30 against South Carolina. He underwent four surgeries to repair a fracture-dislocation of his right ankle and spent 10 days in the hospital.

In the past 11 months, McCoy routinely reached benchmarks in his rehab ahead of schedule, and that momentum continued in preseason practice.

McCoy was eager to practice at full speed, but UT’s medical staff initially worked him in gradually. In the final practices open to media last week, McCoy looked like his old self, at least to the untrained eye.

“They had a good plan for me,” McCoy said. “They were able to set some goals for me throughout camp, and we knocked them all down.”

The next hurdle is whether McCoy can perform at his top level in a game. If so, he’ll give Iamaleava a go-to receiver who’s already earned respect of teammates and SEC opponents.

But Bru McCoy, Nico Iamaleava haven't connected in a game

Iamaleava and McCoy could create one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos in the SEC.

But to be clear, that’s based on their separate talents and McCoy’s progress recovering from the injury. After all, McCoy has never caught a pass from Iamaleava in a game.

In 2022, McCoy made 52 receptions for 667 yards and four touchdowns with Hendon Hooker at quarterback.

In 2023, McCoy had 17 receptions for 217 yards and one TD before his injury with Joe Milton at quarterback. Iamaleava played sparingly and then got his first start in the Citrus Bowl, long after McCoy’s season was over.

Iamaleava and McCoy have a close relationship off the field. Offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said they’ve aggressively worked to build on-field chemistry before the season starts.

“It’s just reps. It’s just how many times can you throw the same routes together,” Halzle said. “For Bru, he still runs his stuff the same way. He still makes the same breaks.

“Switching from one quarterback to the next you’ve still got to kind of go do your thing, see what the defense gives you, feeling how the quarterback is going to read the route and them getting on the same page. That’s nothing but rep after rep after rep on the field.”

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football: Bru McCoy was Nico Iamaleava idol in California