FORMER Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been labeled “ungrateful” for his exit.
Iamaleava is set to sign with UCLA after turning down a $2.4 million NIL offer to stay at the Volunteers.
The 20-year-old wanted closer to $4 million and missed multiple team events.
Coach Josh Heupel announced that Tennessee would be moving on without the quarterback.
And Iamaleava has been forced to settle for considerably less.
His deal to join UCLA is thought to be worth around $1 million.
College GameDay host Rece Davis called the quarterback “extraordinarily ungrateful.”
“There are a lot of different ways to look at this,” he explained on the College GameDay podcast.
“The first way that I look at it is this — if you’ve listened to this podcast or heard me on GameDay for years, you know that I’m all for players getting paid.
“I also believe that the players have not gotten their due for years.
“We’re going to see some of this resolved, if and when the House settlement gets approved.
“You need to have a landing spot before you go in and start demanding extra money.
“And the other thing is that they came off as extraordinarily ungrateful in all of this, which is also a damage to your reputation.”
Davis continued,”Nico Iamaleava, for those of you who might not know, was first approached when he was still in high school, and Tennessee came with an NIL deal.
“And then, subsequently, in court, the Tennessee state attorney, I believe, or attorney general, I think I have that right, fought on his behalf to make sure the NCAA couldn’t say that he was ineligible to play for Tennessee.
“And he collected some money up front. He collected some money in the year that he did not play, and then had moments last season.
“But he didn’t have a great season by any stretch of the imagination, although he was certainly good, and he had some big moments.
“He was a guy who was wildly talented, still growing, and you felt as if [there was] unlimited potential if he stayed on course.
“Yet, it has become apparent that there were other factors at play, and Nico either was not interested or did not quite have the internal strength to stand up to his circle and say, ‘This is not the way we’re going to do business.’”
Iamaleava’s first career start came in the Citrus Bowl in 2024.
He ran for three touchdowns and threw another score in the 35-0 win against Iowa and was named MVP.
He took over from Joe Milton as Tennessee starting quarterback last fall.
Tennessee finished 10-3 with the 20-year-old leading the way.
He had 2,616 passing yards along with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions.
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