Nico Iamaleava Reportedly Decides On UCLA, After Tennessee Debacle

Nico Iamaleava has found a new home at UCLA, six days after not showing up for a practice at Tennessee. 

The former Vols quarterback has been the talk of college football since last week, as the saga surrounding the talented player from California has led to numerous stories about why the situation at Tennessee fell apart. 

After deciding that it was in his best interest to walk away from Josh Heupel and the Vols, he tried to make it clear that this wasn't about money. Unfortunately for Nico's camp, multiple sources tell OutKick that when Iamaleava's family decided to push for more financial help, things started to turn within the program, and for the quarterback. 

UCLA offered a deal for Nico, and it was more of a take it or leave it situation. The money he would receive from the Bruins would not be anywhere near what he was asking Tennessee for, which was in the $4 million range.  

The ongoing saga has led to a tumultuous week for the former five-star, as his family said this was more about the Tennessee offense, and not being able to land him help from the transfer portal. But, there were no concerns raised to the coaching staff over the past four months, even though there were whispers about this situation throughout the industry. 

Now, Nico Iamaleava will head to UCLA hoping to put together a season that will be good enough for him to enter the NFL draft the following spring. Will this be the case? That's up to the coaching staff and how the former Tennessee quarterback plays. 

As for the Bruins, this was not about giving Nico Iamaleava the best deal possible, but more so about having a quarterback with experience on the roster. All of this has been one big soap opera that has played out in the public eye, and did not favor the Iamaleava family in the process. 

The spin will be that none of this was about the actual financial figures, but getting into an offense with which Nico was comfortable. In the meantime, there will be questions that need to be answered about why this all went down in Knoxville, and how does Nico learn from this monumental moment in college athletics. 

We will see if he decides to talk about this in the coming days. This storyline isn't going away anytime soon.