One regular, uneventful Monday in the world of College Football. Just wouldn’t happen, would it? Deep in the midst of the off-season, there’s chaos reverberating off the Pacific Coast. Just when you thought the discourse around Nico Iamaleava and his sensational move to UCLA had quelled, a subliminal bullet has flown across from nearby USC. A school many expected to be in the fray for Nico when he abruptly left Tennessee.
‘Player power’ has been a prevalent term in sports nomenclature ever since LeBron James’ took his talents to South Beach over a decade ago. Followed by him mobilizing the first real ‘Big 3’ of the NBA. It put into perspective how much the dynamics in the association were changing. How players controlled their destiny and drove the game forward more than franchises. As hyperbolic as it sounds, it was a line in the sand for professional sports. Fast forward to the present day, and Nico Iamaleava almost caused a seismic shift in the power dynamics akin to LeBron in the collegiate sports realm. That phenomenon permeated over to the ‘amateur’ level. NIL and the transfer portal were bound to facilitate something like this, and they did.
The masses made Nico the poster child of everything wrong with the advent of these two modern appendages. Even the media stood against what was perceived to be a selfish, money-driven move. Throwing traditional values such as loyalty out the window and hanging Tennessee out to dry. Some of the criticism has been fair, and some perhaps less so. But throughout this time, there’s been almost radio silence from active players about the ordeal. Even if someone didn’t agree with how Nico Iamaleava’s exit from Knoxville came about, there wasn’t public outrage. Or even someone taking his side. After all, more players are inadvertently going to follow this trail in the future. But that has changed on this unassuming Monday. One of his contemporary players has potentially fired shots at Nico.
Don’t confuse the main thing college football is for. Get developed and go to the NFL. No amount of college Nil will help you get drafted.
— Ja’Kobi Lane (@cantGuardJak1) May 5, 2025
USC wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane took to X to preach something rather cryptic but weighty. “Don’t confuse the main thing college football is for. Get developed and go to the NFL. No amount of college NIL will help you get drafted,” he posted. That’s…something. Now conceded, there’s no explicit mention of Nico Iamaleava or USC. Nor is there any history of animosity between the pair, at least to the public eye. However, there’s no smoke without fire. The timing and nature of this post do make you wonder if it was directed at Nico Iamaleava. Who, in an alternate reality, could’ve been throwing passes to Ja’Kobi Lane in Trojan cardinal and gold.
Nico Iamaleava was reportedly shunned by Lincoln Riley and USC upon his Tennessee exit
For the uninitiated, redshirt sophomore QB Nico Iamaleava’s Tennessee stint came to a premature end after his entourage’s attempts to renegotiate his $2 million/year NIL deal went south. They’d already reciprocated a more than fair valuation on his performances. So naturally, this rubbed the Tennessee brass the wrong way. The final nail in the proverbial coffin of Nico’s time with the Vols was him missing their final spring practice. After essentially being told to kick rocks, Nico Iamaleava is back in his native Cali with the UCLA Bruins. But in the initial part of the window of uncertainty between his departure from Knoxville and arrival in LA, it seemed Nico would wind up with USC instead.
Trojans HC Lincoln Riley has a renowned reputation as a quarterback whisperer. 4 of his proteges are NFL starters right now, and 1 even just won Super Bowl MVP. The other 3 of them have also won the Heisman. So, naturally, many believed Nico Iamaleava was leaving Tennessee because he’d found a golden ticket to Coach Riley’s conveyor belt of signal callers. It was a rational thought, too.
As aforementioned, he’s a West Coast native. Plus, USC’s QB1-elect Jayden Maiava has some question marks over him. But that’s not how things transpired. It was loosely reported that Nico’s camp did offer a proposal to Lincoln Riley and the Trojans. But they opted to decline. In part because of Coach Riley’s growing confidence in Maiava, and maybe in part because they didn’t want to associate themselves with this sticky situation. He’s not exactly damaged goods, but there is a lot of negativity around Nico at this juncture. Alas, Ja’Kobi Lane will have to indeed add to his 1,847 career receiving yards with Jayden Maiava. If his social media activity really was directed at Nico Iamaleava, don’t think he’s going to mind that all too much!
The post Nico Iamaleava Catches Strays as 1,847-YD USC Player Throws Subtle Shade After Lincoln Riley Shuts Door on Ex-Tennessee QB appeared first on EssentiallySports.
