UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava will officially miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL suffered against Oregon earlier this month, closing the door on his fourth college season. Iamaleava is expected to have surgery early this week as the No. 9 Bruins enter the home stretch. The injury is only the latest wrinkle in a roller-coaster career for Iamaleava that's been played out in the most public of eyes.
The one-time Tennessee Volunteer has faced nearly every complication in his college career, and sits as one of the faces of the complicated new era. So how did we get here with Iamaleava, and what comes next? Early in his college career, Iamaleava was regarded as a program-changing prospect.
The Long Beach, California, native ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2023 class, only trailing Arch Manning at No. 1. Quickly, Tennessee jumped on Iamaleava with an aggressive NIL push. Then, in his second season, Josh Heupel knew that the five-star could be a game-changing addition to the program's reputation.
Iamaleava signed a reported $8 million contract to join the Vols, which was an absurd amount of money in his day. He was the first major high school quarterback recruit to have his salary make national news. Iamaleava spent his first year on campus as a backup to quarterback Joe Milton, but played major reserve action down the stretch.
He came off the bench against Vanderbilt and completed 9 of 12 passes for 66 yards. Then, he started the bowl game, a 35-0 decimation over No. 17 Iowa as Iamaleava recorded 151 yards and a touchdown on only 19 attempts. The win helped set the stage for his first year starting as a redshirt freshman with big-time expectations.
While Iamaleava didn't quite look the part of a generational recruit, he did plenty as Tennessee posted a breakout season. After an early miscue against Arkansas, Tennessee went 10-2, beating No. 7 Alabama, No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 24 NC State in the process. They reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history as Iamaleava threw for 2,616 yards, rushed for 358 yards and scored 22 touchdowns.
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