REPORT: He’s the best risk if he is the $8 million quarterback recruit…

FARRAGUT, Tennessee (AP) – Nico Iamaleava is most likely the best option for the risk if he is the $8 million quarterback.

The Long Beach, California, rising senior in high school is a talking, walking, touchdown-slinging, Instagram-storying brand. He grabs attention right away and, once seen, becomes remembered. Iamaleava is, as his generation refers to him, “a whole mood,” from his glasses to his distinctive pajama pants (an eponymous brand is in the works).

It makes logical that he would be selected if a group of college football boosters truly contributed to pay seven figures for his name, image, and likeness rights. Following a seven-on-seven tournament on Saturday at Farragut High, he stopped every few feet to pose for pictures with Tennessee fans or opposing players. It was evident that if anyone could handle the pressure of being the first real high-profile experiment of the NIL era, it would be this guy, who always has a smile on his face, seems genuinely happy to greet everyone, and encourages his younger fans to “be great.”

Iamaleava is the player who is the focus of the marketing agreement, but no one will admit it.