UCLA fans were fully prepared to begin learning how to pronounce Iamaleava just four months ago.
Only then, it was for Madden Iamaleava, who was committed to the Bruins' 2025 class before flipping to Arkansas on early signing day in December.
Time to start sounding it out phonetically once more — only, this time for his brother.
According to multiple reports, including from The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava will be returning west to continue his career at UCLA following an interesting saga that led to him entering the transfer portal this spring.
Iamaleava and the Volunteers went their separate ways this week amid rumors of unhappiness with the program. Depending on who you listened to it was either about fair compensation or the offensive system in place in Knoxville.
Regardless, the top available player in the transfer portal is now expected to continue his career in Westwood with the Bruins.
DeShaun Foster's team is in need of a quarterback heading into the 2025 season, so it feels like an ideal marriage for the two sides and will bring one of the top recent quarterback prospects from California back home.
The five-star transfer was also rated as a five-star recruit out of Downey (Calif.) Warren by Rivals in the 2023 class and garnered attention from programs throughout the country. Ultimately, he decided that the SEC is where he belonged and signed with the Vols before appearing in five games as a freshman.
He stepped into the spotlight as the starter in Knoxville in 2024 and finished his redshirt freshman season with 2,616 yards passing to go with 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
Iamaleava completed 63.8% of his passes last season and also accounted for 109 rushing attempts and 358 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground for Josh Heupel's team.
Tennessee went 10-3 during Iamaleava's first season as a starter and reached the College Football Playoff, and now the Bruins will be looking to see that influence help turn things around for Foster in his second season as head coach.
In 2024, the Bruins leaned on veteran Ethan Garbers to guide the offense and he finished with 2,727 yards passing and 16 touchdowns. However, Garbers’ eligibility expired and there is a new offense being installed under first-year coordinator Tino Sunseri, who made the move from Indiana this winter.
Joey Aguilar, a transfer quarterback from Appalachian State, was one of the big additions during the winter, and he has been competing with redshirt sophomore Luke Duncan this spring for the starting job.
Foster and Sunseri now appear to have clear direction at the position following Wednesday's news surrounding Iamaleava.
BruinBlitz.com staff writer Tracy McDannald contributed to this report.
