The Nico Iamaleava saga dominated college sports headlines for several weeks after he abruptly left Knoxville, walking away from his team and teammates. He eventually transferred to UCLA, which seemed to bring the situation to a close. However, just a few hours later, Madden Iamaleava followed in his older brother’s footsteps, leaving Arkansas behind.
The Razorbacks were not pleased—especially because Madden's departure violated the terms of his NIL contract. According to Arkansas policy, any player who exits their agreement early is required to repay half of the money earned.
“Arkansas is threatening to sue Madden Iamaleava for breach of contract for his NIL money & Tennessee likely has a breach of contract suit against Nico too. Would be wild if Nico and Madden had to give all their UCLA NIL money to Arkansas and Tennessee,” Clay Travis said.
The Arkansas Edge—an NIL collective that financially supports the university's athletes—has the backing of Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek.
“I have spoken with the leadership team at Arkansas Edge and expressed my support in their pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement violated by our student-athletes moving forward. We appreciate Edge's investment in our student-athletes and acknowledge the enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world of college athletics. We look forward to continued dialogue with all parties in resolving these matters,” Yurachek wrote.
The collective has now officially retained legal counsel, signaling that they’re preparing for a serious legal battle. Unfortunately for the Iamaleavas, the attorney they've hired is known for only taking cases he’s confident he can win.
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“Oh boy. Tom Mars doesn't take cases he can't, and won't eventually win. The Iamaleava's are so freakin cooked right now,” Fox Sports' Aaron Torres wrote.
The outlook isn’t promising for the Iamaleava brothers. If Arkansas is successful in its lawsuit, it’s likely Tennessee will follow suit against Nico. This situation promises to be one of the most dramatic legal showdowns in college sports.