Inside Nico Iamaleava’s Advanced and Compelling Journey to UCLA

LAS VEGAS — Greater than three years earlier than the towering, 6-foot-6 quarterback Nico Iamaleava strode via the South Seas Ballroom at Mandalay Bay for his debut at Huge Ten Media Days, the place the monetary paper path of his extremely scrutinized soccer profession was among the many most enthralling storylines for reporters, the soft-spoken child from Southern California grew to become a poster baby for the freshly launched Identify, Picture and Likeness (NIL) period in collegiate athletics whereas he was nonetheless in highschool. 

It was March 11, 2022, when The Athletic printed a narrative outlining the main points of a mind-twistingly profitable NIL settlement for an unnamed five-star prospect from the 2023 recruiting cycle. The deal would web the participant $350,000 nearly instantly, in line with the article, and embody “month-to-month payouts escalating to greater than $2 million per 12 months as soon as he begins his faculty profession, in trade for making public appearances and collaborating in social media promotions and different NIL actions,” all of which fell beneath the umbrella of the varsity’s collective or a 3rd social gathering. On the time, business consultants labeled it the richest contract of the NIL period, a transformative interval that was ushered in lower than one 12 months prior. 

For web sleuths and reporters alike, connecting the dots between that contract and Iamaleava, the No. 3 general prospect and No. 2 signal-caller within the class, didn’t take lengthy. Information of Iamaleava’s dedication to Tennessee, for whom he grew to become the highest-rated quarterback recruit in class historical past, broke later that very same month. Ultimately, it was confirmed that the doc reviewed by The Athletic had detailed an settlement between Iamaleava and Spyre Sports activities Group, the Volunteers’ collective. And there’s been a common understanding that cash is among the many prevailing themes in Iamaleava’s profession ever since.

That is why it was so jarring to listen to Iamaleava’s obvious naïveté amid his 25-minute media session in Las Vegas, the place reporters peppered him with questions on one other rash of NIL-related headlines that helped clarify why he was at this occasion within the first place, proudly sporting a light-weight blue go well with, white costume shirt unbuttoned on the neck and huge diamond earrings because the beginning quarterback for UCLA. 

Three months had handed for the reason that very public, very sudden and really messy divorce between Iamaleava and Tennessee rocked the school soccer universe in mid-April, all of it reportedly sparked by failed makes an attempt to renegotiate the participant’s compensation bundle forward of the 2025 marketing campaign. And but right here sat Iamaleava in late July, nonetheless just a few months shy of his twenty first birthday, seeking to rebrand himself in entrance of a nationwide viewers as something apart from a money-hungry quarterback whereas seemingly realizing full properly — not less than on some stage — that he’s by no means going to flee that label.

“My [decision] to go away Tennessee was across the time, you understand, that I feel the reviews got here out,” Iamaleava stated. “Simply false reviews that made me not really feel comfy with the place I used to be in. However behind my head, I all the time needed to come back again house and be nearer to my mother, be nearer to my dad and simply have my household, their help, at our video games. In our Samoan tradition, we’re all the time collectively, and that was the principle factor for me, the driving issue for me to come back again house.”

Although undoubtedly tinged with fact, Iamaleava’s feedback appeared geared toward distancing himself from every thing that occurred in April, when what seemed to be a comparatively profitable partnership between quarterback and soccer program disintegrated not lengthy after the Volunteers had reached the Faculty Soccer Playoff for the primary time in class historical past. In main Tennessee to a 10-3 general document and 6-2 mark within the SEC, Iamaleava threw for two,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and solely 5 interceptions as a redshirt freshman. He grew to become this system’s first quarterback to win 10 video games in a season since Casey Clausen in 2003, engorging expectations for what he may obtain throughout the rest of his collegiate profession. 

Nico Iamaleava #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers seems to be to throw the ball throughout a first-round Faculty Soccer Playoff sport between Tennessee and Ohio State. (Photograph by Robin Alam/ISI Photographs/Getty Photographs)

However starting in early April, because the Volunteers navigated spring observe, a sequence of reviews from nationwide media retailers detailed some obvious friction between Iamaleava’s camp and Tennessee concerning the participant’s monetary compensation. These representing Iamaleava had been reportedly looking for a renegotiated bundle that may pay him roughly $4 million for the upcoming season somewhat than the $2.4 million he was anticipated to earn. The disagreement, which was additionally stated to have included potential issues concerning the high quality of Tennessee’s offensive line, incited frustration within the locker room and amongst members of the varsity’s administration, finally coming to a head when Iamaleava skipped observe on April 11. The following day, head coach Josh Heupel advised reporters that he was transferring on from the star quarterback as a result of “nobody is greater than” this system. Iamaleava entered the switch portal shortly thereafter and dedicated to UCLA the next week. 

“Simply false stuff about whether or not it was a monetary factor or not,” Iamaleava stated. “My driving issue to come back again house was my household. I hope each Tennessee fan understands that. It was actually one of many hardest choices that I ever needed to make. However, you understand, I needed to do what was greatest for me and my household. In the end, I needed to come back again house and be nearer to my household.”

It’s troublesome to reconcile the thought of somebody who has been so totally intertwined with the comparatively temporary historical past of NIL — from his record-setting settlement in highschool to his highly-paid place because the beginning quarterback at Tennessee — claiming to have separated himself from the monetary equipment that so clearly surrounds him, and lots of different elite gamers, within the sport’s trendy period.

Repeatedly, Iamaleava advised reporters in Las Vegas that “I don’t actually give attention to NIL,” as a result of the one issues he worries about are soccer and teachers, along with his mother and father and enterprise representatives dealing with the remainder. He reiterated that social media has by no means been a big a part of his day by day life — “I’m a giant YouTube man,” he stated — which meant that tuning out the rampant dialogue surrounding his motives and status was pretty easy. He spent most of his time through the fallout with Tennessee enjoying video video games and solely discovered concerning the numerous media reviews when knowledgeable by his cousins, to whom he repeatedly stated, “I do not care.” 

Nico Iamaleava is pictured on the sidelines through the UCLA Soccer Spring Showcase. (Photograph by Ric Tapia/Getty Photographs)

Iamaleava maintained that posture in Las Vegas by declining to debate the specifics of his new NIL settlement with UCLA, which is able to reportedly pay him simply shy of $2 million this season. His new head coach, DeShaun Foster, vouched for that model of Iamaleava — somewhat than the extra egocentric ilk portrayed on the web — when requested about his quarterback’s demeanor since becoming a member of this system after spring observe.

“I performed with [Hall-of-Fame defensive end] Julius Peppers,” Foster stated, “and so they’re very comparable, you understand? Bigger than most people however type of don’t need that focus. I identical to that as a result of, you understand, he’s human and you may type of inform he’s a crew man and a household man. Lots of people type of need that focus for themselves, and he’s not any person that does that. It simply felt good to know that we received the suitable kind of quarterback.”

However what Iamaleava didn’t draw back from throughout his look at Huge Ten Media Days was laying out the blueprint he hopes to observe at UCLA, which is coming into Yr 2 beneath Foster after ending 5-7 general and 3-6 as a Huge Ten debutant final fall. If all goes properly on a private stage for Iamaleava, whose dedication to the Bruins prompted presumptive beginning quarterback Joey Aguilar, a winter switch from Appalachian State, to re-enter the portal and take Iamaleava’s place at Tennessee, this will likely be his solely season with this system earlier than coming into the NFL Draft. And if all goes properly as a gaggle for the Bruins, who’ve already landed verbal commitments from three blue-chip recruits and eight highschool prospects rated among the many high 500 gamers general since signing Iamaleava, they’ll claw their approach towards convention respectability after ending twelfth in 2025. 

There’s a sure symmetry to Iamaleava’s continued rebrand unfolding in Los Angeles, the leisure capital of the world, the place scores of eyeballs will monitor his each transfer given every thing he’s been via the previous few years. It’s one other juxtaposition for a participant working to go away that chapter of his life behind.

“I can solely converse for my sport and the way I’m off the sector, how I’m as an individual,” Iamaleava stated. “I do know I’m an awesome particular person. I do know what I deliver to the desk. My factor is to go on the market and carry out on the soccer area.”

Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Observe him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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