DeShaun Foster offers context on Joey Aguilar transfer

DeShaun Foster and the UCLA Bruins added former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava to their team via the NCAA Transfer Portal in one of the more talked about moves of the offseason. It was a development the Big Ten program couldn’t pass up.

However, it had a tremendous ripple effect on the sport as a whole. Joey Aguilar, the veteran quarterback transferred to UCLA from Appalachian State in December, subsequently hit the portal again when the Bruins formally signed Iamaleava. Ironically, Aguilar ended up where Iamaleava had come from: Tennessee.

As you can tell, it was one of the more bizarre turn of events in recent college football memory. Foster took some time to offer some context on Aguilar’s decision to transfer after Iamaleava arrived in Los Angeles, explaining that he was willing to give the quarterback the opportunity to compete for the starting gig this season with UCLA.

“As soon as we knew what it was, I was able to communicate with him what was going on. He said he was going to go back and talk to his family, and he made his decision,” Foster stated, speaking with the media. “… If he wanted to stay and compete, that was fine.”

All told, Aguilar made the decision he thought was best for his career, and that’s fine with Foster. Regardless, the Bruins leader realizes there will be more eyes on his program moving forward, but that’s the attention Foster wants for UCLA.

He certainly doesn’t regret adding a player of Iamaleava’s caliber to his team, even with the baggage his dramatic exit from the Volunteers brought: “You want to be in conversations. You want to play big-time ball. You want to have people who, you know — you want to have haters. You want all this stuff, because that means that you’re trending in the right direction,” Foster told the media.

“So, if you want to play big-time ball, you can do that here at UCLA. We’ve got a quarterback situation that’s going to pan out for us, and we’re just looking forward to it.  When’s the last time we had this many people here talking to us? You guys know what I’m saying. It’s a good buzz for us. Keeping the local kids here, big-time recruits, letting them know that you don’t have to go to a certain conference to be successful and make it to the NFL, you can do it right here in California.”

Time will tell what the right decision was for UCLA, but DeShaun Foster and the Bruins have no shortage of confidence at the moment. One thing is for sure, Nico Iamaleava and Joey Aguilar are forever linked moving forward.