Sources: UCLA in talks with QB Nico Iamaleava for less money - ESPN

The wait for where former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava plays next in his collegiate career continued Wednesday as the spring transfer portal opened up.

UCLA is among the schools interested in Iamaleava, but not for nearly the money he was asking for from Tennessee, sources told ESPN. One source said UCLA is content to «sit tight» while Iamaleava considers his options.

«We'll see if it gets worked out. He's extremely talented with starting experience against elite competition. That's sort of where we are right now,» the UCLA source told ESPN.

Sources told ESPN that Iamaleava wanted at least $4 million from Tennessee and that what UCLA is prepared to offer him isn't remotely close to that figure. Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million at Tennessee under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. It's a deal that would have paid him in the $10 million range had he stayed four years at Tennessee.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced Saturday after the Volunteers' spring game that the program was moving forward without Iamaleava after he missed practice and meetings Friday and didn't alert anybody on the team or return any calls or text messages afterward.

Heupel thanked Iamaleava and called the situation unfortunate, but added, «There's no one bigger than the Power T, and that includes me.»

Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, officially entered the transfer portal on Wednesday with a do not contact tag. He called Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle later Friday to tell him he was entering the portal but didn't correspond with Heupel.

Sources told ESPN that Iamaleava's representatives asked to redo his deal just before the close of the