College Athletics. For years, we have seen students come and go through the various programs that our country has to offer. Whether it’s basketball in Chapel Hill, or football in Tuscaloosa; student athletes have been making these schools millions of dollars for YEARS….in exchange for the promise of a free education.

But now, after the introduction of NIL in collegiate sports…..it looks like things are starting to change in the NCAA. It looks like an aura of “professional athletics’ is starting to creep into the amateur-esque sports that we all know and love. What do I mean by that, you may ask?

Well…

Sources: Tennessee is moving on from starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel informed the team of the decision at a team meeting this morning. Iamaleava missed meetings and practice on Friday, which was the driver of this decision. pic.twitter.com/BsdhJMDXiz

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 12, 2025

That’s right, sports fans; the Tennessee Volunteers are officially DONE with Nico Iamaleava. The junior QB will reportedly be looking for another school to play at next season, after the first ever NIL “contract holdout” lead to the school’s decision to move on from the passer. This will leave RS Freshman Jake Merklinger and Freshman George MacIntyre as the remaining QBs for them to choose from (as of writing this).

Iamaleava, for those who are unaware, played in 18 games for the Volunteers in the past two seasons. In the orange and white, the Long Beach product was able to put up a stat-line consisting of;

63.6 Cmp%, 2930 Yds, 21 TDs, 5 INTs, 144.2 RTG

Iamaleava was a promising young star in the SEC; ranking in the Top-10 of the conference in yards, TDs, and QB rating in 2024. He was poised to make a big step next season for Josh Heupel’s crew. But after he selfishly sat out of the team’s spring workouts…..it looks like that will not be the case in 2025.

It’s a big moment for collegiate sports, with Iamaleava becoming the first reported ‘holdout’ of the NIL era. It’s a “door-opening” type of situation (if that makes sense), that can possibly lead to more top-tier talent trying to pull the same thing. Thankfully though…..Tennessee did not budge. They did not give into the ridiculous (reported) demands of a 20-year old with dollar signs in his eyes, and a bunch of ridiculous “yes-men” in his corner.

Hopefully more schools do the same thing as the Vols. But sadly, with money flowing through college like the great Amazon River…..I’m afraid that we will start seeing more stories like this sooner, rather than later.

But as always, in the end…..what do I know? I’m just a guy from the Midwest, with a beer and a laptop, trying to make sense of this world.