Nico Iamaleava Has 'Zero Market' According to Power 4 General Managers

ESPN — "I think he has zero market," said a general manager at a Power 4 school. "It will be an interesting test of how smart and disciplined colleges are in looking at him."

There has not been a flood of immediate interest in Iamaleava from big brands. Schools with less-than-established quarterback situations such as Notre Dame, USC, North Carolina and UCF have not expressed significant interest, according to team sources. Big paydays come from leverage, and there appears to be little out there.

"Absolutely zero interest," another Power 4 general manager said.

Well THAT is a shame. Nico Iamaleava — or Team Nico led by his father, more precisely — thought he was either going to strong-arm Tennessee into nearly doubling his salary for 2025 or enter the transfer portal and waltz right into a starting job at USC or Notre Dame. Fast-forward less than a week and schools like Tulane and North Carolina are removing themselves from consideration with Nico now having "zero market."

College football needed this. Every player out there right now needed to see a 5-star quarterback attempt to hold his team hostage only to be kicked to the curb and be left hung out to dry by every other program he'd want to play for because he's getting some horrific advice from people who are ruining his career. It won't stop every instance like this, but I'd bet it's certainly going to prevent a few.

Four million dollars clearly isn't on the table anywhere. I'd be shocked if Nico even ends up getting the $2 million he was going to make in Knoxville this season. UCLA still seems like a viable suitor, but if they're the only Power Four team in the mix, they could really show Team Nico what negotiating leverage actually looks like. Because if the Bruins take their hat out of the ring, things start to look very bleak very quickly.

But again, I believe the worse this goes for Nico, the better this story serves as a cautionary tale to the rest of college football. Get ready to learn MACtion, buddy.