Nicholaus "Nico" Iamaleava (/iˌjɑːməleɪˈjɑːvə/ ee-YAH-mə-lay-YAH-və;[2] born September 2, 2004) is an American college football quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. He previously played for the Tennessee Volunteers.
 Iamaleava in 2024 | |
| UCLA Bruins | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 2, 2004 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| High school | Warren (Downey, California) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Early life
Iamaleava was born on September 2, 2004, in Long Beach, California, and is of Samoan descent.[3][4] Iamaleava attended both Warren High School in Downey, California and Long Beach Polytechnic High School. As a senior, Iamaleava threw for 1,726 yards and 25 touchdowns, while also rushing for six touchdowns.[5] He was named the Polynesian Football Player of the Year.[6][7] Iamaleava was also named the MVP of the Polynesian Bowl, throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown.[8] Iamaleava was rated as one of the top players in the class of 2023 and committed to play college football at the University of Tennessee.[9][10]
Iamaleava enrolled early at Tennessee in December 2022, participating in workouts for the 2022 Orange Bowl.[11][12]
| College recruiting information (2023) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
| Nico Iamaleava QB |
Long Beach, California | Warren | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Mar 21, 2022 | |
Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 87
| ||||||
College career
Tennessee
Iamaleava served as the backup quarterback to Joe Milton during the 2023 regular season before being named Tennessee's starting quarterback for the Citrus Bowl, played in January.[13][14] In his first career start during the Citrus Bowl, Iamaleava threw for 151 yards and recorded four total touchdowns, one passing and three rushing, leading Tennessee to a 35–0 victory over Iowa.[15][16] For his performance, he was named Citrus Bowl MVP.[17]
Entering the 2024 season, Iamaleava was named Tennessee's starting quarterback.[18] In the season opener against Chattanooga, he threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns in a 69–3 win.[19] Iamaleava finished the season throwing for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions, leading Tennessee to a 10–3 record and the program's first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.[20]
On April 10, 2025, it was reported that Iamaleava was in active contract negotiations with Tennessee regarding a rework of his NIL deal.[21][22] The next day, Iamaleava was absent from the team's practice ahead of the Volunteers spring game.[23][24] On April 12, head football coach Josh Heupel announced that Tennessee would be moving on from Iamaleava at quarterback.[25]
UCLA
On April 20, 2025, Iamaleava announced his decision to transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles to play for the UCLA Bruins.[26]
Statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2023 | Tennessee | 5 | 1 | 1–0 | 28 | 45 | 62.2 | 314 | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 135.5 | 20 | 71 | 3.6 | 3 | |
| 2024 | Tennessee | 13 | 13 | 10–3 | 213 | 334 | 63.8 | 2,616 | 7.8 | 19 | 5 | 145.3 | 109 | 358 | 3.3 | 3 | |
| 2025 | UCLA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Career | 18 | 14 | 11−3 | 241 | 379 | 63.6 | 2,930 | 7.7 | 21 | 5 | 144.2 | 129 | 429 | 3.3 | 6 | ||
Personal life
His brother, Madden Iamaleava, was a four-star QB recruit in the 2025 college football recruiting class who first committed to play for UCLA, but then flipped to Arkansas in December of 2024. On April 21, 2025, a day after Nico transferred to UCLA, Madden decided to follow his brother and also transfer to UCLA.
References
- ^ @tnsports (January 1, 2024). "QB Nico Iamaleava named Citrus Bowl MVP as Tennessee football routs Iowa" (Tweet). Retrieved January 1, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ "How to pronounce the name of Vols QB Nico Iamaleava". YouTube.com. WATE 6. December 27, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
- ^ Brooks, Gabe (December 13, 2022). "Stacking the 5-star quarterbacks in the updated 2023 Top247". 247Sports. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Evans, Luca (April 5, 2021). "Warren's Nicholaus Iamaleava brings toughness to quarterback play". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Huffman, Brandon (November 29, 2022). "2023 Polynesian High School Polynesian Player of the Year Finalists Announced". 247Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Fisher, Jeff (January 22, 2023). "Nico Iamaleava named 2022 Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year". High School Football America. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Ragan, Zach (January 22, 2023). "Watch: Vols QB Nico Iamaleava gives heartfelt speech while accepting prestigious award". A to Z Sports. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ West, Marvin (January 23, 2023). "It isn't easy being Nico". Knox TN Today. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Kasabian, Paul (March 21, 2022). "5-Star QB Nicholaus Iamaleava Commits to Tennessee over Alabama, Oregon, More". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan (March 21, 2022). "Nicholaus Iamaleava commits to Tennessee: Vols land first five-star quarterback recruit since 2002". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Paschall, David (December 17, 2022). "Josh Heupel, Nick Saban voice different takes on players opting out of bowls". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ Sparks, Adam (December 28, 2022). "Tennessee football quarterback update: Nico Iamaleava is Cade Klubnik in Orange Bowl practice and more". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Sparks, Adam (December 27, 2023). "Joe Milton opts out of Citrus Bowl; Nico Iamaleava will start for Tennessee football". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
- ^ Van Haaften, Reece (December 27, 2023). "Joe Milton opts out of Citrus Bowl, Nico Iamaleava to start". WATE 6 On Your Side. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
- ^ Rothman, Sam (January 1, 2024). "Nico Iamaleava leads Vols to Citrus Bowl win in first career start". WATE 6. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ Smith, Craig (January 1, 2024). "Nico Iamaleavea immediately shows what Tennessee Vols' offense has been missing". A to Z Sports. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ Sparks, Adam (January 1, 2024). "QB Nico Iamaleava named Citrus Bowl MVP as Tennessee football routs Iowa". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ Smith, Kaiden (August 26, 2024). "Tennessee names Nico Iamaleava starting quarterback". On3. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ Rothman, Sam (August 31, 2024). "Nico Iamaleava sets Tennessee record as Vols dominate Mocs". WATE. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ^ Sparks, Adam (December 22, 2024). "Nico Iamaleava stats: Tennessee QB grade in CFP loss to Ohio State". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved December 26, 2024.
- ^ Nakos, Pete (April 10, 2025). "Tennessee and QB Nico Iamaleava in active contract negotiations ahead of 2025 season". On3. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Sparks, Adam. "Nico Iamaleava seeks new NIL deal as Tennessee QB ahead of transfer portal | Report". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ "Sources: Iamaleava no-shows Vols amid NIL talk". ESPN.com. April 11, 2025. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ "Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee's $2 million QB, absent from practice amid NIL talks: Sources". The New York Times. April 11, 2025. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Thamel, Pete (April 12, 2025). "Sources: Tennessee moving on from starting QB Nico Iamaleava". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
- ^ "Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava commits to UCLA". Los Angeles Times. April 20, 2025. Retrieved April 21, 2025.