The best passer in the college football transfer portal has a new home. Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava announced his commitment to UCLA on Sunday via Instagram.
The Long Beach native departed Knoxville earlier in April after skipping spring practice in an attempt to hold out for more NIL money. That bid failed and head coach Josh Heupel decied to move on from his 2024 starter that helped the team reach its first College Football Playoff in program history.
Iamaleava almost wound up without a home entirely but now that he's joining the Bruins he will significantly alter the landscape of the Big Ten Conference for 2025.
How Nico Iamaleava will improve UCLA in 2025
In 2024, UCLA finished 14th out of 18 teams in its first season after departing the Pac-12. Senior QB Ethan Garbers played well in his fourth year with the Bruins but the stats tell a different story overall for the team.
UCLA finished the season 46th in third-down conversions (.427), tied for 116th in first downs (216) and 47th in passing offense (242.2 yards per game).
Garbers himself was 35th in completion percentage (.647), 63rd in passing efficiency (136.33), 27th in pass yards-per-game and 49th in passing yards (2,727) while throwing for 16 TDs.
That's not going to cut it if UCLA wants to compete in the Big Ten. Iamaleava was Top 50 in most of those categories and led the Volunteers to similar finishes. Granted, the Bruins' receiving core is not SEC-caliber but bringing in an SEC QB should give them a better shot than last year.
That all being said, UCLA won't automatically become a CFP contender in 2025, let alone a Big Ten contender. Iamaleava still has three years of eligibility remaining and will need most if not all that time to develop the Bruins into a formidable force.