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New details emerge on Nico Iamaleava, decision to leave Tennessee for transfer portal

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•about 9 hours•

BarkleyTruax

Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee Football | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
(Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images) Sep 7, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) keeps the ball and runs against the North Carolina State Wolfpack during the first quarter at the Dukes Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium.

Nico Iamaleava‘s stunning decision to leave Tennessee for the NCAA transfer portal rocked the college footall world on Saturday morning. ESPN’s Chris Low has since provided additional context to the situation, revealing Iamaleava’s mind was made up as early as Friday.

“Iamaleava notified Tennessee OC Joey Halzle late Friday night he had completed his paperwork and was entering the portal next week, sources told ESPN. This after Josh Heupel and multiple staffers had tried to reach Iamaleava and/or his reps to no avail for a day and a half,” Low’s report reads.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who was the first to report the news on Saturday morning, head coach Josh Heupel informed the Tennessee team of the program’s decision to move on from Iamaleava as its starting quarterback. It’s unclear as of this report whether Iamaleava’s camp, or Tennessee were the ones to make the final decision.

Iamaleava did go through spring practice at Tennessee this year. However, On3’s Pete Nakos reported the two sides were in active contract negotiations on a new NIL deal ahead of the spring game.

News later broke that Iamaleava was not present at practice one day before the Orange and White scrimmage. And now, the five-star recruit will instead enter the portal during the spring window, which begins on April 16 and goes through the 25.

During his time at Tennessee, Iamaleava sat behind Joe Milton as a freshman before taking over as the starter on Rocky Top. He threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns, along with five interceptions, in 2024 while helping Tennessee to a 10-3 record and a first-round appearance in the CFP.

Iamaleava arrived at Tennessee with plenty of fanfare as a highly rated recruit. A Downey (Calif.) Warren product, he was a five-star prospect and the No. 6 overall player from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was also the No. 1 overall player in the On300 Rankings.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Industry recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.