Early signs of the Nico Iamaleava effect were evident to DeShaun Foster as the UCLA coach scanned the group of seven reporters standing before him, more than twice the usual number.
“When was the last time we had this many people here talking to us, you know what I’m saying?” Foster said Tuesday morning. “So this is a good buzz for us.”
Foster has his quarterback, and now he’s starting to enjoy the perks.
Largely an afterthought a little more than a week ago, the Bruins are now the talk of the college football world after landing the quarterback from Tennessee who was widely regarded as the top player in the transfer portal after leading the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff as a redshirt freshman.
Calling the addition of Iamaleava “just something that we couldn’t pass up,” Foster said it did not necessitate using name, image and likeness funds earmarked for quarterback Joey Aguilar, who is now headed to Tennessee as part of what is being jokingly called a trade between the Bruins and Volunteers.
“If he wanted to stay and compete,” Foster said of Aguilar, “that was fine.”
Asked to characterize UCLA’s NIL package for Iamaleava, who was reportedly asking Tennessee for more than the $2 million-plus he was set to make with the Volunteers next season, Foster would only say that it was “a success.”
“I don’t know what he was looking for or whatnot,” Foster said of the Long Beach native who starred at Warren Downey High. “I know that he accepted our contract and he wants to be a Bruin, so that’s all I’m focused on.”
It appears to be a package deal given that Iamaleava’s younger brother, Madden, is expected to join Nico in Westwood after entering the transfer portal. Also a quarterback, Madden had committed to UCLA out of Long Beach Poly before signing with Arkansas in December. Foster said there was no smoothing over of the situation needed before Nico agreed to become a Bruin but could not comment on the potential addition of any players from the transfer portal.
There had been speculation that the arrival of Madden Iamaleava as the heir apparent to his older brother could prompt UCLA freshman quarterback Robert McDaniel to enter the transfer portal, but Foster said McDaniel was at practice Tuesday and had not informed the coaching staff of a possible departure.
Given that Nico Iamaleava cannot join the team before enrolling for summer classes, the Bruins will complete their final spring practices without the quarterback who will almost surely take the first snap in the season opener against Utah on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl. If nothing else, McDaniel and fellow quarterbacks Demarcus Davis, Luke Duncan, Henry Hasselbeck, Nick Billoups and Colton Gumino will have opportunities during the next two weeks to make their case to be the top backup.
Foster said he was not concerned that missing spring practice would hinder Iamaleava’s ability to quickly learn new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri’s system.
“I don’t think it will hurt him at all,” Foster said, noting Sunseri’s recent success working with quarterbacks for only one season, including Kurtis Rourke at Indiana. “You know, it’s pretty cool that these other guys are going to be able to get some more reps so we can really see who can get out there and potentially compete for the starting position.”
After acknowledging that some players know their destination before entering the transfer portal, Foster said “this wasn’t one of those” situations. Once Iamaleava entered the transfer portal, Foster said his staff could quickly evaluate the quarterback’s potential because of its familiarity with him as a high school prospect.
While some have characterized this move as distasteful because it amounts to replacing one transfer with another before the first transfer took one snap with the team, Foster said he didn’t think he needed to check with his players about the potential impact of landing Iamaleava because he possessed “a pretty good feel of what the culture is down there with them.” A lot of players on the team already knew Iamaleava from having played with or against him previously, Foster said, their support for the move evident in welcoming messages on social media after their new quarterback announced his commitment.
Besides, Foster said, securing top talent has always been at the root of successful teams.
“Every year I was here as a running back, they recruited more running backs to come here, you know?” Foster said, referring to his time as a star running back for the Bruins. “So, this is a competition sport — for coaches, players, everybody. So you gotta, you just gotta want to get out there and compete.”
What are the Bruins getting in Iamaleava, who completed 63.8% of his passes last season for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns with five interceptions?
“6-6, you know, this is a big guy,” Foster said, alluding to Iamaleava standing 6 foot 6 and weighing 215 pounds. “A true competitor. Fiery. Big arm. And then, it’s gonna — keeping the California kids and L.A. kids here, you know? This is a big thing.”
Foster said Iamaleava’s desire to come home and play closer to family was part of the reason for his move. He could also feel the embrace of bigger-than-usual crowds at the Rose Bowl given that a UCLA athletic department spokesperson said there had been a positive response from season ticket-holders and an uptick in new inquiries for tickets in the wake of Iamaleava’s arrival.
The buzz could just be beginning to build.
“You want to be in conversations, you want to play big-time ball, you want to have haters, you want all of this stuff,” Foster said, “because that means that you’re trending in the right direction. So, if you want to play big-time ball, you can do that here at UCLA. I got a quarterback situation that’s gonna pan out for us.”
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