The Tennessee Volunteers have made waves nationally with their changing of the guard at quarterback this month. Former QB Nico Iamaleava is off to UCLA after an awkward breakup with Tennessee went public, with the latter turning to soon-to-be-ex-UCLA Joey Aguilar as their starter for 2025.
Well, at least that’s what will happen. Something still has to take place in order for both of those transfers to officially take place: finishing classes at the schools they’re leaving, as UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster touched on this week.
The timeline for both players are different. Tennessee is on a semester system, which end earlier than quarter systems, which UCLA is on. Final exams at UT are scheduled to take place from May 9-15. UCLA’s final exams take place a month later, which means Aguilar won’t officially be free from UCLA until that point in time.
It’s largely all academic at this point (pun intended), but it’s still a hoop that both players will have to jump through. Yes, indeed, the “student” portion of the student-athlete mantra that the NCAA has touted for decades still appears to exist in this money-driven collegiate sports landscape we currently live in.
In the end, Iamaleava will be a Bruin and Aguilar will be a Vol. But they still have to go through the awkward, lame duck final days with their current schools to get there.
