Nico Iamaleava’s master plan to receive more NIL money is blowing up in his face.
The now-former Volunteers quarterback had over $2 million coming his way from Tennessee this season before electing to enter the spring transfer portal in hopes of a bigger deal elsewhere.
Iamaleava’s now looking at UCLA as his next destination, but for far less cash — and even that is far from a done deal.
Iamaleava’s transfer to UCLA has not yet been made official after FS1’s Colin Cowherd was the first to report that the Long Beach native was heading home to Southern California to become a Bruin.
While various outlets looked to confirm the news, ESPN’s Chris Low later reported that “UCLA is among the schools interested in Iamaleava” and that the Bruins are “content to ‘sit tight’ while Iamaleava considered his options.”
Well, his options could be dwindling.
Of his reported top three schools from earlier this week, UCLA seems to be the final one showing interest after Tulane and North Carolina moved in different directions.
“We’ll see if it gets worked out,” Low’s UCLA source said. “He’s extremely talented with starting experience against elite competition. That’s sort of where we are right now.”
Iamaleava had reportedly been looking to rework his NIL deal with Tennessee’s collective prior to the winter transfer portal. This culminated in him missing practice unannounced last week before Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said the program would be moving forward without the rising redshirt sophomore quarterback.
Iamaleava’s father, Nic Iamaleava, has been reported as a significant factor behind his son’s decisions.
If Iamaleava does officially wind up at UCLA, the price tag might not please the family.
“Iamaleava wanted at least $4 million from Tennessee,” Low reported. “What UCLA was prepared to offer him wasn’t remotely close to that figure.”
With ESPN’s cautious approach to the reports and what seems like a disconnect regarding the quarterback’s value, it seems Cowherd could have jumped the gun with his breaking news.
And it wouldn’t be the first time a Iamaleava-to-UCLA commitment fell through, as Nico’s younger brother, Madden, was committed to the Bruins in high school before flipping to Arkansas very late into the recruiting process.
Until any official reports are released, it’s safe to say that Iamaleava’s saga is anything but over.