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Iamaleava, Nico
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Jersey Number 9
Nico Iamaleava
- Position:
- Quarterback
- Height:
- 6-6
- Weight:
- 215
- Class:
- Redshirt Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Long Beach, Calif.
- Previous School:
- Warren HS / Tennessee
Bio
Career Highlights
• 2024 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Finalist
• 2024 Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Semifinalist
• 2024 Citrus Bowl MVP
• 4-time SEC Freshman of the Week (last: Dec. 2, 2024)
• Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List (Week 14, 2024)
• Manning Award QB of the Week (Week 2, 2024)
• 2-time SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll recipient (2024, 2023)
Career Summary
Iamaleava signed with UCLA on April 20, 2025 after spending two seasons at Tennessee (2023-24) … has played 18 games and made 14 starts at quarterback … has totaled 2,930 passing yards and 21 touchdowns on 241-of-379 passing (64.0%) with five interceptions … owns an 11-3 record as the starting quarterback … has rushed for 435 yards on 129 attempts with six touchdowns … career-long completion is 86 yards, occurring in final week of 2024 regular season at Vanderbilt … career-long rush is 31 yards … career high in passing yards is 314 set Week 1 in 2024 versus UT-Chattanooga … career high in passing touchdowns is four set twice in Weeks 11 (UTEP) and 12 (at Vanderbilt) in 2024 … has thrown for 250-plus yards in three contests … has totaled six 50-plus-yard completions.
2024 (Tennessee)
Started all 13 games and led Tennessee to a College Football Playoff appearance with a 10-3 record as a redshirt freshman … was the first Tennessee freshman to lead the program to 10 regular season wins … was the first Tennessee quarterback to win 10 games as the starter since Casey Clausen in 2003 … finalist for Polynesian Player of the Year … named SEC Freshman of the Week four times … completed 213-of-334 passes for 2,616 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions … rushed for 364 yards and three scores on 109 attempts … ranked second in the SEC with six 50-plus-yard completions, which also tied for 10th nationally … accounted for 151 yards of total offense and two rushing touchdowns in the CFP First Round at eventual national champion Ohio State (Jan. 21) … posted five games with multiple passing touchdowns … completed 18-of-26 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns, including a career-long 86-yard completion, in a win at Vanderbilt, earning him a spot on the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List for Week 14 (Nov. 30) … posted back-to-back games with four touchdowns versus UTEP (Nov. 23) and at Vanderbilt … completed 17-of-23 passes (73.9%) for 209 yards while rushing for 36 yards against UTEP … completed 20-of-33 passes for 167 yards at Georgia (Nov. 16) … was 8-of-13 passing for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of a win over Mississippi State before missing the second half with an injury (Nov. 9) … posted his highest SEC completion percentage (73.7%) versus Kentucky while setting career highs in completions (28) and pass attempts (38) with 292 yards and one touchdown (Nov. 2) … completed 14-of-27 passes with 194 yards and threw the game-winning 16-yard touchdown with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter to beat Alabama (Oct. 19) … went 16-of-26 passing for 169 yards in a win over Florida (Oct. 12) … in his first career SEC start, completed 13-of-21 passes for 194 yards, including a 66-yard TD completion, to beat Oklahoma on the road (Sept. 21) … was 10-of-16 passing for 173 yards and a 53-yard touchdown in two quarters of action versus Kent State (Sept. 14) … passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns while adding a career-high 65 rushing yards and score on the ground in a win over N.C. State, earning him Manning Award QB of the Week (Sept. 7) … in his first home start, completed 22-of-28 passes for a career-high 314 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of a win versus UT-Chattanooga (Aug. 31) … his 314 yards versus UT-Chattanooga broke the program record for passing yards in a half and marked the fourth total 300-yard performance in a half by a Tennessee QB … earned a spot on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.
2023 (Tennessee)
Played in five games and made his first career start versus Iowa in the Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1) … served as Tennessee’s backup quarterback for the regular season and earned a redshirt … finished the year completing 28-of-45 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns with now interceptions … added 71 rushing yards on 20 carries with three scores … thrusted into his first career start for the 2024 Citrus Bowl versus Iowa, leading Tennessee to a 35-0 shutout victory in which he was named MVP … accounted for 178 yards of total offense and four touchdowns against Iowa’s defense … completed 12-of-19 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown while rushing 15 times for 27 yards and three scores on the ground … tied a Tennessee bowl game record with three rushing touchdowns … saw his most extensive action of the regular season versus Vanderbilt, completing 9-of-12 passes for 66 yards in a victory (Nov. 25) … orchestrated two productive drives in a win versus UConn, including an eight-play, 78-yard TD drive in the third quarter that ended in the first touchdown pass of his career (Nov. 4) … finished the game 5-of-9 passing for 86 yards and also had a 25-yard scamper in the win over UConn … completed 2-of-3 pass attempts for 11 yards and added an eight-yard rush while leading a scoring drive in his collegiate debut versus Virginia (Sept. 2) … earned a spot on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.
High School
Graduated from Warren High School (Downey, Calif.) where he spent his sophomore, junior and senior seasons … also prepped at Long Beach Poly High School (Long Beach, Calif.) as a freshman and spring of his junior year … ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2023 by On3 … five-star prospect according to 247Sports and Rivals … four-star prospect according to ESPN … tabbed the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation by Rivals and 247Sports … ranked No. 23 overall in the ESPN300 … named the 2022 Polynesian High School Player of the Year and selected as the Offensive MVP of the Polynesian Bowl … named to the All-CIF DII team in 2021 and 2022 … as a senior in 2022, led Warren High School to a 9-2 record and CIF Southern Section Division II playoff appearance with 1,986 passing yards and 25 touchdowns on 119-of-199 passing … also rushed for 399 yards and six scores on 46 carries … as a junior in 2021, led Warren to an 8-1 record and a CIF SS DII playoff appearance with 2,244 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and one interception on 162-of-272 passing … rushed for three touchdowns and 158 yards … coached by Kevin Pearson at Warren … also an elite volleyball player … played one match at Long Beach Poly as a freshman before the COVID-19 shutdown.
Personal
Born Nicholaus Iamaleava Jr. in Long Beach, Calif. … is of Samoan descent … parents are Marleinna and Nicholaus Iamaleava … has seven siblings … brothers are Matt and Madden … sisters are Nicaylah, McKennah, Ninalei, Mallory and Nori … shares the UCLA QB room with Madden … sister, Nicaylah, played volleyball at Cypress College … older brother, Matt, played volleyball at Long Beach State … last name is pronounced ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va.
• 2024 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Finalist
• 2024 Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Semifinalist
• 2024 Citrus Bowl MVP
• 4-time SEC Freshman of the Week (last: Dec. 2, 2024)
• Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List (Week 14, 2024)
• Manning Award QB of the Week (Week 2, 2024)
• 2-time SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll recipient (2024, 2023)
Career Summary
Iamaleava signed with UCLA on April 20, 2025 after spending two seasons at Tennessee (2023-24) … has played 18 games and made 14 starts at quarterback … has totaled 2,930 passing yards and 21 touchdowns on 241-of-379 passing (64.0%) with five interceptions … owns an 11-3 record as the starting quarterback … has rushed for 435 yards on 129 attempts with six touchdowns … career-long completion is 86 yards, occurring in final week of 2024 regular season at Vanderbilt … career-long rush is 31 yards … career high in passing yards is 314 set Week 1 in 2024 versus UT-Chattanooga … career high in passing touchdowns is four set twice in Weeks 11 (UTEP) and 12 (at Vanderbilt) in 2024 … has thrown for 250-plus yards in three contests … has totaled six 50-plus-yard completions.
2024 (Tennessee)
Started all 13 games and led Tennessee to a College Football Playoff appearance with a 10-3 record as a redshirt freshman … was the first Tennessee freshman to lead the program to 10 regular season wins … was the first Tennessee quarterback to win 10 games as the starter since Casey Clausen in 2003 … finalist for Polynesian Player of the Year … named SEC Freshman of the Week four times … completed 213-of-334 passes for 2,616 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions … rushed for 364 yards and three scores on 109 attempts … ranked second in the SEC with six 50-plus-yard completions, which also tied for 10th nationally … accounted for 151 yards of total offense and two rushing touchdowns in the CFP First Round at eventual national champion Ohio State (Jan. 21) … posted five games with multiple passing touchdowns … completed 18-of-26 passes for 257 yards and four touchdowns, including a career-long 86-yard completion, in a win at Vanderbilt, earning him a spot on the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List for Week 14 (Nov. 30) … posted back-to-back games with four touchdowns versus UTEP (Nov. 23) and at Vanderbilt … completed 17-of-23 passes (73.9%) for 209 yards while rushing for 36 yards against UTEP … completed 20-of-33 passes for 167 yards at Georgia (Nov. 16) … was 8-of-13 passing for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the first half of a win over Mississippi State before missing the second half with an injury (Nov. 9) … posted his highest SEC completion percentage (73.7%) versus Kentucky while setting career highs in completions (28) and pass attempts (38) with 292 yards and one touchdown (Nov. 2) … completed 14-of-27 passes with 194 yards and threw the game-winning 16-yard touchdown with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter to beat Alabama (Oct. 19) … went 16-of-26 passing for 169 yards in a win over Florida (Oct. 12) … in his first career SEC start, completed 13-of-21 passes for 194 yards, including a 66-yard TD completion, to beat Oklahoma on the road (Sept. 21) … was 10-of-16 passing for 173 yards and a 53-yard touchdown in two quarters of action versus Kent State (Sept. 14) … passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns while adding a career-high 65 rushing yards and score on the ground in a win over N.C. State, earning him Manning Award QB of the Week (Sept. 7) … in his first home start, completed 22-of-28 passes for a career-high 314 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of a win versus UT-Chattanooga (Aug. 31) … his 314 yards versus UT-Chattanooga broke the program record for passing yards in a half and marked the fourth total 300-yard performance in a half by a Tennessee QB … earned a spot on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.
2023 (Tennessee)
Played in five games and made his first career start versus Iowa in the Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1) … served as Tennessee’s backup quarterback for the regular season and earned a redshirt … finished the year completing 28-of-45 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns with now interceptions … added 71 rushing yards on 20 carries with three scores … thrusted into his first career start for the 2024 Citrus Bowl versus Iowa, leading Tennessee to a 35-0 shutout victory in which he was named MVP … accounted for 178 yards of total offense and four touchdowns against Iowa’s defense … completed 12-of-19 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown while rushing 15 times for 27 yards and three scores on the ground … tied a Tennessee bowl game record with three rushing touchdowns … saw his most extensive action of the regular season versus Vanderbilt, completing 9-of-12 passes for 66 yards in a victory (Nov. 25) … orchestrated two productive drives in a win versus UConn, including an eight-play, 78-yard TD drive in the third quarter that ended in the first touchdown pass of his career (Nov. 4) … finished the game 5-of-9 passing for 86 yards and also had a 25-yard scamper in the win over UConn … completed 2-of-3 pass attempts for 11 yards and added an eight-yard rush while leading a scoring drive in his collegiate debut versus Virginia (Sept. 2) … earned a spot on the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.
High School
Graduated from Warren High School (Downey, Calif.) where he spent his sophomore, junior and senior seasons … also prepped at Long Beach Poly High School (Long Beach, Calif.) as a freshman and spring of his junior year … ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2023 by On3 … five-star prospect according to 247Sports and Rivals … four-star prospect according to ESPN … tabbed the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation by Rivals and 247Sports … ranked No. 23 overall in the ESPN300 … named the 2022 Polynesian High School Player of the Year and selected as the Offensive MVP of the Polynesian Bowl … named to the All-CIF DII team in 2021 and 2022 … as a senior in 2022, led Warren High School to a 9-2 record and CIF Southern Section Division II playoff appearance with 1,986 passing yards and 25 touchdowns on 119-of-199 passing … also rushed for 399 yards and six scores on 46 carries … as a junior in 2021, led Warren to an 8-1 record and a CIF SS DII playoff appearance with 2,244 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and one interception on 162-of-272 passing … rushed for three touchdowns and 158 yards … coached by Kevin Pearson at Warren … also an elite volleyball player … played one match at Long Beach Poly as a freshman before the COVID-19 shutdown.
Personal
Born Nicholaus Iamaleava Jr. in Long Beach, Calif. … is of Samoan descent … parents are Marleinna and Nicholaus Iamaleava … has seven siblings … brothers are Matt and Madden … sisters are Nicaylah, McKennah, Ninalei, Mallory and Nori … shares the UCLA QB room with Madden … sister, Nicaylah, played volleyball at Cypress College … older brother, Matt, played volleyball at Long Beach State … last name is pronounced ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va.
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