Tennessee football transfer-turned-UCLA Bruin Nico Iamaleava had his portal experience ruined by his representation. ESPN’s Chris Low, Max Olson, and Adam Rittenberg report that, given how poorly his Rocky Top exit went, Iamaleava’s camp turned USC, Notre Dame, UNC, and Texas Tech, among others, off from a potential meeting.
“Sources at USC, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Texas Tech and several other Power 4 programs told ESPN they weren't getting involved with Iamaleava. Some had quarterbacks locked in, others were hesitant to deal with Iamaleava's representatives. The Bruins, meanwhile, were debating whether to move forward but would be interested if the price was right,” the ESPN reporters wrote.
Iamaleava’s camp was accused of having no PR strategy to counteract the reporting of his ghosting of Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel.
“Yes, Tennessee has won the P.R. battle — largely because Iamaleava’s camp hasn’t bothered to implement any real P.R. strategy at all,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote.
As ESPN's editorial staff notes, part of Iamaleava’s camp’s strategy appeared to involve outright lying.
“Multiple sources at Tennessee told ESPN that Iamaleava missed two offseason workouts in February and that his father told Tennessee coaches that Iamaleava's attorney advised him to skip workouts until he worked things out with Spyre. Iamaleava's camp contends the absence was over a payment issue with Spyre. A Spyre representative told ESPN that there were no missed payments. Nic Iamaleava could not be reached for comment,” the ESPN reporters wrote.
By all accounts, Iamaleava’s camp was doing wrong by UT. Heupel and Co. refused to take it, and it left the Long Beach, California native several million dollars down.
Limiting his options and destroying his rep in the industry means they did Nico wrong, too.