Nicholaus "Nico" Iamaleava ( ee-YAH-mə-lay-YAH-və; born September 2, 2004) is an American college football quarterback for the UCLA Bruins. He previously played for the Tennessee Volunteers.
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Early life
Iamaleava was born on September 2, 2004, and is of Samoan descent. Iamaleava attended both Warren High School in Downey, California and Long Beach Polytechnic High School. As a senior, Iamaleava threw for 1,726 yards and 25 touchdowns, while also rushing for six touchdowns. He was named the Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year. Iamaleava was also named the MVP of the Polynesian Bowl, throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown. Iamaleava was rated as one of the top players in the class of 2023 and committed to play college football at the University of Tennessee.
Iamaleava enrolled early at Tennessee in December 2022, participating in workouts for the 2022 Orange Bowl.
College career
Tennessee
Iamaleava served as the backup quarterback to Joe Milton during the 2023 regular season before being named Tennessee's starting quarterback for the Citrus Bowl, played in January. In his first career start during the Citrus Bowl, Iamaleava threw for 151 yards and recorded four total touchdowns, one passing and three rushing, leading Tennessee to a 35–0 victory over Iowa. For his performance, he was named Citrus Bowl MVP.
Entering the 2024 season, Iamaleava was named Tennessee's starting quarterback. In the season opener against Chattanooga, he threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns in a 69–3 win. Iamaleava finished the season throwing for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions, leading Tennessee to a 10–3 record and the program's first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.
On April 10, 2025, it was reported that Iamaleava was in active contract negotiations with Tennessee regarding a rework of his NIL deal. The next day, Iamaleava was absent from the team's practice prior to the Volunteers’ spring game. On April 12, head football coach Josh Heupel announced that Tennessee would be moving on from Iamaleava at quarterback.
UCLA
On April 20, 2025, Iamaleava announced his decision to transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles to play for the UCLA Bruins. In his UCLA debut against Utah, Iamaleava struggled, completing 11 passes for 136 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 43–10 loss. Against No. 7 Penn State, Iamaleava led the previously winless Bruins to an upset victory, throwing for 166 yards and accounting for five total touchdowns in the 42–37 win. He continued his success the following week against Michigan State, throwing for 180 yards and three touchdowns in a 38–13 victory. Iamaleava finished the 2025 season with 1,928 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, and seven interceptions, while rushing for 505 yards and four touchdowns.
Personal life
His brother, Madden Iamaleava, was a four-star QB recruit in the 2025 college football recruiting class who first committed to play for UCLA, but then flipped to Arkansas in December 2024. On April 21, 2025, a day after Nico transferred to UCLA, Madden decided to follow his brother and also transfer to UCLA.