Why Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is deserving of all the attention and hoopla as he gets ready to go to the 2024 season
Tom Fornelli
7-8 minutes
Tom Fornelli
Feb 14, 2024 at 2:34 am ET • 5 min read
Off the field, Tennessee quarterback could help change college football forever. The NCAA and the state of Tennessee are entangled in a federal antitrust lawsuit (of which Virginia is a co-plaintiff) over the legality of the association’s name, image and likeness (NIL) guidelines. The legal battle stems from an ongoing NCAA investigation into potential major violations at the University of Tennessee for NIL dealings across multiple sports.
CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd reported that the NCAA’s inquiry in football centers around Iamaleava, who signed a record contract with Spyre Sports Group. Spyre is Tennessee’s primary collective and a member of the The Collective Association, a trade association of 30-plus collectives across the country.
I fully expect the NCAA to lose this fight, but it felt like a good time to see what all the fuss is about with Iamaleava, the No. 2 player in the 2023 recruiting class who chose the Volunteers over plenty of other big programs.
I went back and watched Iamaleava’s lone college start: Tennessee’s 35-0 dismantling of Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. Iamaleava finished the game with only 151 yards passing but threw a touchdown and ran for three more. More important than his numbers or his team’s overall performance, I wanted to get an idea of the player.
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