Nico Iamaleava’s unceremonious departure from Tennessee saw the 20-year-old quarterback demand a $2 million NIL pay raise and sit out of the Volunteers’ last practice before their annual spring game.
Iamaleava is heading home to play for UCLA, just half an hour from where he played high school football. The newest member of the Bruins is leaving behind one of the most controversial stories in college football history, but he still has some support in his corner.
Los Angeles Times writer Eric Sondheimer expressed high hopes for Iamaleava’s development in an April 20 Twitter post. He also took a shot at Tennessee for its well-documented NIL controversies.
“It will all work out for Nico Iamaleava at UCLA. He has incentive to focus on proving himself and lifting up teammates,” Sondheimer tweeted. “Whether there's an offensive line to protect him remains to be seen. But all the Tennessee whining, save it. They started this NIL circus.”
Iamaleava threw for 2,616 yards as a redshirt freshman, tossing 19 touchdowns to five interceptions en route to a 10-3 campaign with the Vols. His Southern California roots definitely made the decision easier for UCLA coach DeShaun Foster.
Foster recently credited Iamaleava’s local background as a key factor in the Bruins’ decision-making process.
"If it wasn't a local kid, it would've been a little bit more difficult," Foster told ESPN. "But being able to see him play in high school and evaluating that film at Tennessee wasn't hard to do. A lot of the kids on the team know him and have played with him."
Iamaleava will have a lot of doubters praying on his downfall. The young signal-caller will need to block out the noise as he embarks on a new journey in the Big Ten.