Did you think all of the drama surrounding former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava was over? Well, we thought it was, but it turns out there's still more to tell for this story. Shortly after Iamaleava's move to UCLA was made official, his younger brother Madden also committed.
As you all know by now, this opened the door for UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar to transfer too, as he lost his starting spot to Nico in a flash - Aguilar is now Knoxville-bound. Well, it looks like he's not the only Bruins' signal-caller who now needs to find a new home thanks to Iamaleava and his bro moving to Westwood.
On Friday night, breaking news came in that 2025 UCLA quarterback signee Robert McDaniel, who just got to campus a few months ago, is now out the door. Matt Zenitz of 247Sports was the first one to break the news:
UCLA true freshman quarterback Robert McDaniel has entered the transfer portal, @chris_hummer and I have learned for @cbssports/@247Sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 26, 2025
Was part of the Bruins’ 2025 recruiting class and had enrolled at UCLA in January.https://t.co/10Sz3YwNKg pic.twitter.com/JS0pEMUx3n
Nico Iamaleava and Madden Iamaleava have another UCLA QB looking for a new team
You've got to feel bad for McDaniel, but this is the way the transfer portal works. When he signed with the Bruins, he had no idea that Iamaleava would end up leaving Knoxville to play for the Bruins. Not only that, but Madden was also a 2025 signee, who enrolled early with Arkansas.
His stay with the Razorbacks didn't last long, as he bolted on the program to join his big bro with the Bruins. McDaniel must have seen that the writing was on the wall for him and that the best choice was for him to enter the portal and find a different spot to compete at.
As for Nico, plenty of people still can't believe that he left Tennessee. He was set to make north of $2 million with the Vols in 2025 and while his family/team will try to say that he transferred because of the Tennessee offense and not because of money, no one is buying that. The Vols are ready to move forward with Aguilar as their starter for '25 (barring a surprise), but he was once pretty fired up to play for UCLA, the same way McDaniel was.
Add us as a preferred source on Google