UCLA's Nico Iamaleava Denies 'False Reports' About Leaving Tennessee over NIL Dispute

Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava publicly pushed back against what he called "false reports" that his decision to transfer to UCLA was driven by an NIL dispute.

"My decision to leave was extremely hard. You know, one of the hardest decisions that I ever had to make," Iamleava told reporters at Big Ten media days on Thursday (h/t On3.) "Family was the biggest thing for me.

"A lot of things about financial stuff, it was never that. It was me getting back home, close to my family, and playing at the highest level with my family support."

Iamleava sat out some of the Volunteers' spring practice and ultimately left the program amid reports from On3's Pete Nakos and the Knoxville News Sentinel's Adam Sparks that he was seeking a new NIL deal ahead of the 2025 season.

ESPN's Chris Low, Max Olson and Adam Rittenberg reported in the days following Iamaleava's transfer that those initial reports "sowed far more distrust and a suspicion that Tennessee coaches or the NIL collective was responsible for leaking information."

Initial reports indicated that Iamaleava had signed a landmark NIL deal before committing to Tennessee in 2022.

The NIL prices for top college quarterbacks have since risen, with CBS Sports' John Talty and Chris Hummer reporting in January that Georgia transfer Carson Beck was expected to sign a $4 million NIL deal for the 2025 season.

ESPN reported on April 11 that Iamaleava had not showed up to a spring practice, an absence which "came as a surprise to coaches and players."

ESPN reported that the time that Iamaleava's NIL contract negotiations had "become a growing source of frustration among administrators at Tennessee and within the locker room."

Iamaleava told Tennessee about his intention to transfer on the night of April 11, per Low, Olson and Rittenberg. He entered the transfer portal with a "do not contact" tag on April 16 and officially announced his commitment to UCLA on April 20.

When asked on Thursday when he decided to leave the program, Iamaleava answered, "My time to leave Tennessee was around a time, I think, probably the reports came out, just false reports that made me not feel comfortable in the position I was in. But in the back of my head, I always wanted to come back home."

He continued, "Just false stuff about whether it was a financial thing or not. 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 that I ever had to make."

The quarterback declined to answer questions about any specifics involving his current NIL deals, saying that he didn't want to "speak on money matters."

Fellow transfer Kaedin Robinson, who is currently suing the NCAA for eligibility to play next season, has previously made public that UCLA offered him an NIL deal worth about $450,000 in order to transfer ahead of the 2025 season.

Iamaleava is from Long Beach, California, where he played at a high school located about a 45-minute drive from the UCLA campus.

He will now be tasked with bouncing back from his struggles in last season's playoff loss to Ohio State by helping UCLA record its first winning season since joining the Big Ten in 2024.