Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
UCLA

UCLA releases first look at Nico Iamaleava in Bruins gear

Danby: Daniel Hager07/24/25DanielHagerOn3
UCLA-releases-first-look-at-Nico-Iamaleava-in-Bruins-gear
Photo via UCLA Athletics.

Months after he shocked the college football world after transferring from Tennessee to UCLA, we finally have our first look at Nico Iamaleava in Bruin blue and gold. And it’s different than what we are used to, to say the least.

Iamaleava led the Volunteers to the 2024 College Football Playoff in his lone year as the starting quarterback in Knoxville. The California native passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions in 13 games last year, but struggled mightily in Tennessee‘s Playoff loss to Ohio State.

UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster discussed the addition of Iamaleava again on Thursday. His comments came at this week’s Big Ten Media Days event.

“We’re just excited to have a playoff quarterback,” Foster said. “Somebody that was able to lead his team to the playoffs. They might not have got the outcome that they wanted, but he still was able to play and he showed how tough he was in that game. Just being able to come back home and be in a familiar environment, I think sky is the limit. So we’re excited about this.”

Foster’s first season at his alma mater didn’t go great, as the Bruins finished with a 5-7 record. This marked UCLA’s first sub-eight-win season since 2020. The addition of Iamaleava has Foster fired up heading into his second season as the head man in Los Angeles.

“Just the arm strength is just something that you see off, just from watching him play at all,” Foster said. “But he’s just a talent. It’s not anything that I saw him do last season. It’s more of what I’d seen him do all the way up.”

Nico was the No. 6-ranked player in the Class of 2023 coming out of Warren (Long Beach, CA), three spots behind fellow quarterback Dante Moore. Moore actually committed to UCLA out of high school, spending his freshman season there. He, however, transferred to Oregon for the 2024 season, leaving a hole at the quarterback position at UCLA.

Iamaleava now gets to head home to Los Angeles for a Bruins program still looking to find its identity. He, along with Foster and the entire team, looks to take the next step in a crowded Big Ten this season.

UCLA opens its 2025 campaign at home against Utah on August 30. The programs have met 21 times before, with the Bruins leading the all-time series 12-9. Utah won the last meeting 14-7 on Sept. 23, 2023, in Salt Lake City.