Deshaun Foster reveals Nico Iamaleava has not yet joined UCLA team

Nico Iamaleava can’t quite join UCLA just yet as the former Tennessee quarterback moves through the transfer process. As ESPN’s Chris Low pointed out, he has to finish up in Knoxville.

UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster confirmed Iamaleava has to finish his classes at Tennessee before enrolling out west. Since UCLA runs on a quarters system, final exams are June 9-13.

Low also reported not only can Iamaleava enroll yet, outgoing quarterback Joey Aguilar is in the same boat. The former App State star transferred into UCLA in the winter, only to find himself back in the portal months later and is ironically transferring to Tennessee.

Tennessee and Iamaleava mutually parted ways on April 12, after they failed to agree on a restructured NIL deal for Iamaleava. The redshirt sophomore QB reportedly was seeking a $4 million a year NIL deal, a significant upgrade from his alleged pre-existing $2.2 million deal.

Iamaleava’s commitment is a massive addition for UCLA. As a redshirt freshman last season, Iamaleava was Tennessee’s full-time starter. He finished the year with 2,616 passing yards and 19 touchdowns while throwing five interceptions. He also recorded 358 yards and three scores in the ground game.

UCLA reportedly informed its quarterback room of Iamaleava’s commitment Sunday. The value of Iamaleava’s NIL deal with UCLA hasn’t been reported yet. The former five-star prospect boasts an On3 NIL Valuation of $2.1 million, which ranks No. 23 in the On3 NIL 100.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel, along with Rece Davis, continued to break down the transfer of Iamaleava on the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ on Monday. Thamel would, in those judgements, make note of the fact that Iamaleava was more so in the back seat for what all happened in leading him to leave Knoxville for Los Angeles in the portal.

“The sense I’ve gotten from covering this thing pretty closely the last couple weeks is that Nico hasn’t had a ton of say in what’s happening with Nico,” said Thamel. “Like, it is, he has not been in the driver’s seats of these decisions and these, these moves.”

That’s unfortunate for Iamaleava considering he’s at the center of it either way. This as a whole has also now affected how he’s viewed compared to how he used to be to begin with back on Rocky Top.

“He generally had a good reputation at Tennessee,” Thamel added. “He wasn’t a malcontent there. He had a strong relationship with Josh Heupel. He was liked in the building. He was thought to be a solid leader. He was not a problem at all at Tennessee. He was well-liked there and he seemed to like it there by, by all accounts.”