LAS VEGAS — Three months after Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee for UCLA and shook the college football world amidst the most significant contract dispute in the NIL era, the star quarterback finally broke his silence.
You just might not have been able to hear the soft-spoken quarterback Thursday when he stepped on stage near the end of Big Ten Media Days. The main attraction during the final hours of the three-day media event spoke barely above a whisper as he faced a barrage of questions concerning his departure from the Vols, whom he led to the College Football Playoff in December, to return to his home state and play for UCLA this fall.
The big question was asked in several different forms: Did he leave Tennessee because he wanted more than the $2.2 million he was set to receive next season?
“Not at all,” he told CBS Sports earlier Thursday, before facing a throng of reporters. “My family was strictly the main importance for me. I let my business team, my parents, handle that side of NIL. Just me being closer to family was the most important thing.”
Iamaleava said he came to Big Ten Media Days to clear the air about his sudden departure from Tennessee, where he sat out a pair of spring practices in April as reports surfaced about an apparent contract dispute in Knoxville. Several outlets reported he asked for a new $4 million contract. One week before Iamaleava’s absence in Knoxville, sources told CBS Sports Iamaleava may be interested in testing the portal waters with the West Coast as a possible destination. Whatever happened during those two days in April, the result was all that mattered: UCLA landed Iamaleava out of the transfer portal. Earlier this summer, coach DeShaun Foster asked the quarterback to join him at media days to…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/putting-controversial-tennessee-exit-to-rest-nico-iamaleava-turns-focus-to-championship-aspirations-at-ucla/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-07-25 01:29:00
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