Nico Iamaleava

Nicholaus "Nico" Iamaleava (born September 2, 2004) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers. He was one of the top players in the 2023 recruiting class.

Early life and high school career
Iamaleava was born in Long Beach, California and is of Samoan descent. Iamaleava attended both Warren High School in Downey, California and Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, CA. As a senior, Iamaleava threw for 1,726 yards and 25 touchdowns, while also rushing for six touchdowns. He was named the Polynesian Football Player of the Year. Iamaleava was also named the MVP of the Polynesian Bowl, throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown. Iamaleava was rated as one of the top players in the class of 2023 and committed to play college football at the University of Tennessee.

Iamaleava enrolled early at Tennessee in December 2022, participating in workouts for the 2022 Orange Bowl.


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College career
Iamaleava served as the backup quarterback to Joe Milton during the 2023 regular season before being named Tennessee's starting quarterback for the Citrus Bowl, played in January. In his first career start during the Citrus Bowl, Iamaleava threw for 151 yards and recorded four total touchdowns, one passing and three rushing, leading Tennessee to a 35–0 victory over Iowa. For his performance, he was named Citrus Bowl MVP.