WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BLACKLIST? UCLA SAVED NICO IAMALEAVA WITH $1.5 MILLION
When major programs should have rejected a quarterback turning down $2.4 million at Tennessee, the NIL pitfalls never end, with a desperate program digging in to Big Ten payoffs for an amount
It took a week to regurgitate. Or should we say vomit? The transfer portal never holds grudges and delivered Nico Iamaleava to UCLA, where he doesn’t deserve $1.5 million and the school shouldn’t be paying him a penny. I haven’t seen a Bruins football game in 13 1/2 years of Los Angeles life. The program ranks behind men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s gymnastics and any sport that doesn’t let a head coach quit to become an offensive coordinator, as Chip Kelly did.
Root for Lauren Betts. Cheer for Jordan Chiles. Boo Mick Cronin out of reverence for John Wooden and 11 national titles at Pauley Pavilion. Iamaleava is the villain of college sports and deserved rejections from every Power Four school, all because he wished to renegotiate a $2.4 million contract this season and was blown off by Tennessee. He says faith led him to Westwood, if you somehow feel sorry for him.
“First and foremost, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for His grace, for continuing to bless my family, and for allowing me to live out my passion each and every day,” he wrote Sunday on social media. “I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me where I need to be. Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!”
In truth, Iamaleava took mediocre quarterbacking credentials and exploited what is intended to be an online database. He found a desperate pick-me-up, near his southern California hometown, that is paid $75 million by the Big Ten in this fiscal year. UCLA also will distribute up to $20.5 million a year for athletes, thanks to a ruling by Judge Claudia Wilken that further supports professional mindsets. The NIL sphere colonizes the minds of young people who once thought of classrooms and degrees but must think of family members — such as Iamaleava’s father, Nic, described as “greedy” and “overbearing” by ESPN’s Paul Finebaum for the Knoxville execution.
True, they wanted $4 million and took a pay cut. Still, why give any money for a player who signed an $8 million contract for four years? Iamaleava let down the Tennessee collective and might do the same at UCLA, where the reported $1.5 million could be used for other purposes. This means head coach Josh Heupel was correct to cut him after he blew off spring practice, saying, “No one’s bigger than Power T, and that includes me.” And other coaches who demeaned the maneuver also were right, including Miami’s Mario Cristobal, who said, “Where are you going to draw the line in your program? You’ve got to realize something: Once you allow that to happen, and you agree to it, well, prepare for a line of 80 guys doing the same thing. We’re not going to do that at Miami, and I say that without any hesitation. If anyone’s thinking that and they could be the best player in the world, if they want to play holdout, they might as well play get out.”
But Cristobal also accepted former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck as a transfer and handed him $4.3 million in an NIL deal. As Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said, “Miami gave him $4.3 bucks? Did they watch his game against us?” Apparently, Beck can’t leave because he broke up with basketball player and internet star Hanna Cavinder, but didn’t the coach already open his program to corrupt developments? “We don’t want to do that, and we don’t want Miami to become that,” he said. “Too many guys have sweated, bled, (and) have laid it on the line on that field to ever become that type of program. I hope that answers the question.”
Beck’s move planted a seed in Iamaleava, who should be the starter on Aug. 30 when Utah visits the Rose Bowl. This brings attention to the forgotten agenda of DeShaun Foster, who replaced Kelly last year and made a Media Day speech that went viral. “I’m sure you guys don’t know too much about UCLA, our football program, but we’re in L.A. It’s us and USC. We, umm … I’m just basically excited, really. That’s it.” Wait until he addresses Iamaleava. How will UCLA fare against struggling USC, where Lincoln Riley must win or say goodbye?
“To the amazing people in Knoxville, thank you for embracing and uplifting me throughout my time there,” Iamaleava said. “I’ll be forever thankful for the support you showed me every step of the way and I’ll always cherish the relationships I built there and the memories I created with my brothers. I believe with all my heart that I gave my all as a Volunteer. I’m truly grateful for the time I had at UT. My journey at UT has come to an end. This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon.”
There should have been no decision, other than Heupel possibly moving him to the bench. Quarterbacks control lives on campuses, as they do in the NFL. Last year, after starting 3-0, Matthew Sluka left UNLV’s program and said the school failed to pay him $100,000. He has transferred to James Madison. How will Beck fare as Cam Ward’s replacement? But nothing compares to Iamaleava, who threatened to leave and left, finding support in the Bruins for Life football collective. For years, the UCLA athletic department was dying in red ink. Not anymore, thanks to the Big Ten shift, requiring teams to fly terribly long distances for conference games.
“We have incredibly dedicated supporters backing each fund and all three have the same goal: to provide opportunities that inspire student-athletes to choose UCLA, and to grow, thrive and stay in Westwood,” athletic director Martin Jarmond told The Athletic. “Our administration is committed to doing our part to be fiscally responsible while remaining competitive.”
The responsible backlash would have been a blacklist. Let Nico and Nic scrounge without a deal. But UCLA saved them with money it needs and somehow doesn’t need. Hope they enjoy 45,000 empty seats in Pasadena.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.