Paul Finebaum Sends Nico Iamaleava Warning to Interested College Football Teams
Nico Iamaleava is leaving the Tennessee Volunteers after his desire for more NIL money was refused by the team. He is going to be one of the best players on the market and teams who need quarterback help will be tempted to pursue him.
There is no question that Iamaleava is a talented player. However, there are concerns about him.
Clearly, those concerns come from how he handled things with Tennessee.
With that in mind, notable college football analyst Paul Finebaum spoke out with a message to teams who might have interest in Iamaleava, as shared by On3 Sports. He warned teams to stay away from the Volunteers’ transfer.
“I would stay away from him,” he said. “You know, buyer beware of this guy. It’s not even Nico. It’s the whole apparatus.”
Looking at his numbers, the intrigue in Iamaleava is understandable. He put together a strong 2024 season and helped lead Tennessee to the College Football Playoff.
Throughout the course of the year, he completed 63.8% of his pass attempts for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns, and five interceptions. In addition to his passing numbers, he ran for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports has named a few teams to keep an eye on for Iamaleava in the transfer portal. North Carolina was one of them, but they are reportedly out on pursuing him.
Other teams that were mentioned were Texas Tech, UCLA, Colorado, Maryland, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Oregon, and USC.
Pete Nakos of On3 Sports has also reported that multiple schools are waiting to see if Iamaleava drops his NIL price tag in the coming days before pursuing him.
