Nico Iamaleava had opportunity to expose college football NIL and punted

LAS VEGAS — He could’ve changed it all, pulled back the curtain on the underbelly of college football and revealed its sordid secrets.

And he punted.

There was new UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava, ground zero for all that is wrong in the new age of player empowerment in college football, taking the fifth at Big Ten media days on Thursday, July 24 when he could’ve been transcendent.

Shutting it down when he should’ve lit it up.

New team, new goals, but no new answers from the one player with intimate knowledge of – and in a unique position to explain – how the nation’s second-most popular sport has driven its spotless reputation into the ditch with a never-ending money grab by players and universities.

“I don’t speak on money matters,” Iamaleava said over and over. “I’m just here f