PHILADELPHIA – Redshirt junior quarterback Nico Iamaleava of the UCLA football team was named to the annual Maxwell Award Watch List on Monday. The Maxwell Football Club presents the award annually to the most outstanding player in college football.
Iamaleava was one of 81 FBS players and 45 quarterbacks named to this year's watch list. The Big Ten led all conferences with 17 student-athletes represented.
This marks Iamaleava's second consecutive appearance on the Maxwell Award Watch List. Gary Beban is the only Bruin to win the Maxwell Award, earning the honor in 1967.
Iamaleava, a 6-foot-5 quarterback from Long Beach, Calif., enters his fourth collegiate season and second at UCLA in 2026. Through 29 career games and 26 starts, he has completed 449 of 702 pass attempts (64.0%) for 4,858 yards and 34 touchdowns while adding 934 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Iamaleava helped UCLA to a three-game winning streak in the middle of the 2025 season, highlighted by the Bruins’ first victory over an AP top-10 opponent since 2010 with a 42-37 win over No. 7 Penn State. Iamaleava accounted for a career-high-tying five touchdowns in the victory while throwing for 166 yards and rushing for 128, earning several national weekly honors.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, a former standout at the Swarthmore College and a renowned sports writer and football official.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced in on Nov. 10, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled on Nov. 24. The winner of the 2026 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 10.
UCLA’s Ticket Information
Season ticket packages for UCLA's upcoming football season are available. Fans can call (310) 206-5991 or email tickets@athletics.ucla.edu for more information. Single-game home tickets will go on sale at a later date. For more information about tickets, call UCLA Athletic Sales & Service at (310) 206-5991 or via email at tickets@athletics.ucla.edu.