CBS Sports analysts share Nico Iamaleava buzz out of UCLA
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Nico Iamaleava’s transfer from Tennessee to UCLA has, by far, been one of the biggest stories of the transfer portal. Now the big question is how the quarterback will fare at his new stop.
The Bruins went just 5-7 in DeShawn Foster’s first season. Can Iamaleava help elevate the program and build on the success he had in Knoxville? CBS Sports college football analyst Matt Zenitz noted the presence of several Bruins staff members that could be key to Iamaleava’s performance, including Tino Sunseri, who left Indiana after a historic season to become the Bruins’ offensive coordinator but was at one time an offensive assistant at Alabama.
They’ve seen quarterbacks that not only are capable of playing at a high level, in college, but know what it takes to be successful at the next level. They see that in Nico, I’ll just say that,” Zenitz said.
Zenitz mentioned a discussion he had that offered a promising prediction.
“I’m trying to remember the exact quotes so I can go word for word, but it was along the lines of like, ‘Tennessee’s going to have some regrets when they see what Nico does,'” Zenitz said.
Chris Hummer from 247Sports raised a similar projection based on his own conversations.
“I have talked to multiple people in college football, at UCLA and outside of UCLA, that say Nico is worth two or three wins, at least, compared to what they had last year. Like, he is that significant of an upgrade at QB for them,” he said. “You’re talking about a team that can win eight or nine games just with a quarterback upgrade.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
