Perhaps time has healed all wounds. Back in December, in a midnight ride that could only be compared to Paul Revere, new UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s brother Madden decommitted from UCLA, choosing to play for Arkansas instead.
“Four-star quarterback Madden Iamaleava, No. 143 in the 2025 ESPN 300, flipped his pledge from UCLA to Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon, multiple sources told ESPN,” wrote ESPN’s Eli Lederman.
“Minutes after Iamaleava’s move surfaced, three-star UCLA wide receiver pledge Jace Brown — Iamaleava’s teammate from California’s Long Beach Polytechnic High School — announced his commitment to Arkansas, sealing a double flip that deals a crushing blow to UCLA’s incoming class.”
With Madden’s return to UCLA, it would signify to all of college football that UCLA and the head of the Iamaleava household, Nic Iamaleava, are in business together.
This is a move that will either be regarded as a stroke of genius by Foster or the reason why he’ll exit the school. Any deal with Nico would have a smokescreen on whether the program was dealing with him or his camp. Now that screen is gone.
Publicly, Nic Iamaleava’s name is in the mud right now. In fact, the Iamaleava’s name are in the mud with rumors circling that lawsuits could be coming their way over NIL money paid out by Tennessee and Arkansas.
Let’s go back in time. When the news about Nico Iamaleava broke about money issues between him and Tennessee, here’s what happened.
On3’s Pete Nakos reported that his sources inside the Tennessee program stated Iamaleava would consider holding out of practice as he wanted more NIL money. Iamaleava’s representative, his father Nic, said that wasn’t true. Nic then doubled down on X, formerly known as Twitter, with colorful language.
“More games being played off the field than on the field,” Nic Iamaleava wrote. “Bi7ch Nakos from On3 Sports called and asked me directly, I told him I had no idea on what he’s talking about. He said his “close source” that he trusts with his life from the University of Tennessee staff gave him this.”
That was the last time Nic tweeted anything. That was also a blatant lie.
There has to be some trust, some commitment, some solidified guarantee to make UCLA continually do business with a party that has continually burned them.
The good news is winning solves everything and all Nico has to do to quiet any noise is win.
If there is a plan for Madden to become a starter one day, they have some work to do as he hasn’t played in a regulation game since 2023.
UCLA is the only shot the Iamaleava’s have of redeeming their name. Everyone is looking at the Iamaleava family, including the NFL.
This method of business cannot continue, it’s not sustainable.
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