What Opposing Coaches Say About UCLA's Nico Iamaleava

"He's a true leader and I just love how he approaches the day, how he just approached our players, how he approached coming into the team so late. It wasn't just like, 'I'm Nico' and this. He wanted to really get in there and work. I wanted to see him in the huddle. I had already seen him in high school and all of that before, so that was good. It was just more, I wanted to see him command, and how is he around the other players? But he's been great."

Anonymous Defensive Coordinator of 2025 UCLA Opponent

"That's a kid that is tough as nails. When he runs, he doesn't look to slide. He can sling it. With development, he's going to be one of the top dudes in the country. He's 6-6, tough to take down, can throw every ball. Needs a little bit more accuracy in the deep ball, but can throw it wherever he needs to put it. His eye progression needs a bit of work, but my guess is with another year, he's worked through that."

Iamaleava's Aura Instilling Confidence

Foster admits he's still learning stuff about his signal-caller, the biggest being the confidence the Tennessee transfer carries that is bleeding into the locker room.

"Just his presence," Foster said during Monday's media availability on what impresses him about Iamaleava off the field. "Has a calm demeanor to himself and is just a leader. He has an aura around him that you can kind of, like, 'OK, he has confidence.'"

When you've been the topic of critique all offseason, like Iamaleava has, following his public dispute and departure from Tennessee in April, it may be surprising to learn that the redshirt sophomore isn't hearing all the noise.