DeShaun Foster breaks down culture fit between UCLA, Nico Iamaleava

When making the decision to add a high-profile player like former Tennessee five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster had no doubt how his Bruins locker room would react.

And while there was a little shakeup when expected starting QB Joey Aguilar opted to trade places with Iamaleava, formally committing to the Volunteers on Tuesday after re-entering during the Spring period, the Bruins roster has been quite welcoming.

Not that it was much of a surprise to Foster, a former UCLA player himself who is entering his second season as head coach at his alma mater.

“I think I have a pretty good feel of what the culture is (in the UCLA locker room), so I didn’t think I needed to really check in with them and see what (they thought),” Foster said last week, according to BruinBlitz.com. “But, … I mean, I’d just go off what you’ve seen on social media from our players. I think that pretty much answers a lot of questions.”

DeShaun Foster reveals what excites him most about Nico Iamaleava

Foster opened up about what excited him the most about adding Iamaleava to next season’s roster, citingall the aspects of the former Tennessee QB’s game that will be of use to them in Los Angeles.

“Um, 6-(foot)-6. You know, this is a big guy,” Foster said of Iamaleava. “A true competitor. Like, fiery. Big arm.”

Foster also sees an off-field impact for their program considering Iamaleava is from Long Beach just a half hour outside of Los Angeles.

“And then, you know, it’s going to – keeping the, the California kids and the LA kids here, you know. This is a big thing,” Foster added. “When I played here, a lot of kids stayed here, but I also played with guys from out of state. But, you still wanted to stay local and play big-time football.”

Iamaleava hasn’t yet realized the potential he had as a former five-star, who was a top-ten recruit nationally and top-three quarterback, through two college seasons. He had moments while at Tennessee but never got all the way there in completing 63.8-percent of his passes for 201.3 yards per game with 19 passing touchdowns and five interceptions this past year as the Volunteers’ starter. Now, in his return to the west coast, he’ll have a chance to do so again but, this time, for his hometown team.

“I’m just pretty excited,” Foster concluded.

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.