UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava spoke about many things, including his transfer from Tennessee, at Big Ten media days on Thursday. Iamaleava has been surrounded by NIL controversy for college football fans. It has been a long journey since he received his big $8 million dollar NIL deal with Tennessee initially. His long path ultimately led to a transfer from the Tennessee Volunteers to the UCLA Bruins in the spring.
Many reports were made stating that the transfer was about money, but Iamaleava wanted to set the record straight when asked at media days.
“Just false stuff about whether it was a financial thing or not,” Iamaleava said to reporters at the Big Ten media days. “My driving factor to come back home was my family and I hope that every Tennessee fan understands that it was really one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. But I had to do what was best for me and my family and ultimately, I wanted to come back home and be closer to my family.”
The 6-foot-6-inch signal caller was born in Long Beach, Calif., alongside his brother and fellow Bruin quarterback, Madden Iamaleava.
Alongside his younger brother, Iamaleava has two other sibling collegiate athletes in California: Long Beach State volleyball middle blocker Matt Iamaleava and Cypress College volleyball libero Nicaylah Iamaleava.
According to UCLA, Nico Iamaleava also has a history of playing volleyball for Long Beach Poly High School and was “ranked by some volleyball analysts as the top high school volleyball prospect in the country,” according to On3.com.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava says his transfer was about family, not money
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
