Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava announced in an Instagram post on Sunday afternoon that he is officially transferring to UCLA.
“My journey at UT has come to an end,” Iamaleava said in the post. “This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me to where I need to be.
“Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Nico Iamaleava (@nico_iamaleava8)
Reports were circulating as early as Wednesday that Iamaleava, a rising redshirt freshman and the No. 1 player in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings, was transferring to UCLA.
Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster did not comment about the Iamaleava reports on Friday, which was the day UCLA held its annual Friday Night Lights event. He did give an update on Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar, who was a frontrunner for the starting quarterback job prior to Iamaleava’s transfer.
“We talk to Joey just like every other quarterback that’s in that room and discuss what’s going on and what’s not going on and how he’s practicing,” Foster said. “I like where Joey’s at right now, and hopefully he can keep progressing as spring goes.
Madden Iamaleava, Nico’s younger brother and Long Beach Poly quarterback, was recruited by UCLA but flipped his commitment on signing day and chose Arkansas.
The younger sibling commented “mhm” on Iamaleava’s official announcement post on Instagram.
The arrival of Iamaleava will have a ripple effect on the Bruins’ quarterback room, which is led by first-year UCLA offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and is already full with seven players.
Aguilar will likely battle with Iamaleava for the starting position if he does not decide to leave the team. Luke Duncan, who was taking reps with the second-team offense, could potentially move further down the depth chart.
Five-star Newbury Park High School quarterback Brady Smigiel had named UCLA one of his top four choices in early March. He attended Michigan’s spring game on Saturday and was not in attendance for Friday Night Lights on Friday.
Iamaleava is coming off a season with Tennessee that ended in the first round of the College Football Playoff and threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns with five interceptions.
He joins a Bruins program that averaged 242.17 yards of passing offense last season and went 5-7 overall in its inaugural Big Ten Conference season.
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