Sources: UCLA tells QBs of Iamaleava's transfer

The UCLA staff has informed the team's current quarterbacks of the expected transfer of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava to UCLA, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Sunday.

The message is a key step that shows the discussions between UCLA and Iamaleava are significant. A formal decision is expected in the near future.

UCLA is among several schools interested in Iamaleava, but not for nearly the money he was asking for from Tennessee, sources told ESPN. One source last week said UCLA was content to "sit tight" while Iamaleava considered his options.

"We'll see if it gets worked out. He's extremely talented with starting experience against elite competition. That's sort of where we are right now," the UCLA source told ESPN last week.

Sources told ESPN that Iamaleava wanted at least $4 million from Tennessee and that what UCLA was prepared to offer him wasn't remotely close to that figure. Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million at Tennessee under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. It's a deal that would have paid him in the $10 million range had he stayed four years at Tennessee.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced last week after the Volunteers' spring game that the program was moving forward without Iamaleava after he missed practice and meetings Friday and didn't alert anybody on the team or return any calls or text messages afterward.

Heupel thanked Iamaleava and called the situation unfortunate, but added, "there's no one bigger than the Power T, and that includes me."

Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, officially entered the transfer portal Wednesday with a do not contact tag.

Sources told ESPN that Iamaleava's representatives asked to redo his deal just before the close of the winter portal in December after Tennessee's playoff loss to Ohio State, but his deal was unchanged and Iamaleava did not enter the winter portal. His father, Nic Iamaleava, also wanted Tennessee to surround his son with better receivers and a more effective offensive line in pass protection.

Before the start of spring practice this year, Iamaleava's representatives reached out to Oregon to gauge its interest in the quarterback, but the school said it wasn't interested, sources told ESPN. Oregon then notified Tennessee that Iamaleava was being shopped to the Ducks.

Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Long Beach, California, was recruited by UCLA out of high school. His younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, committed to UCLA out of high school but changed his commitment at the last minute and signed with Arkansas.

Iamaleava helped guide Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season in his first year as a starter. He passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, but in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State in the playoff, he passed for more than 200 yards only twice.