1 month after Nico Iamaleava committed to UCLA, 4-star QB prospect leaves Bruins for Hawaii

Former Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava caused a lot of movement among QBs after his decision to leave the Volunteers. On April 20, he announced that he was transferring to the UCLA Bruins after one season as the starter at Tennessee. The move was controversial and caused quite a stir in the football world.

On Friday, another quarterback move involving UCLA occurred, which might have been a ramification of the Iamaleava move. Former four-star QB Dermaricus Davis transferred to Hawaii. The former top recruit originally committed to Washington as a recruit before eventually signing with UCLA. However, after the addition of Iamaleava at UCLA, he opted to enter the portal again.

"BREAKING: UCLA transfer QB Dermaricus Davis has Committed to Hawaii, he tells. The 6’5 200 QB will have 4 years of eligibility remaining Started his career at Washington before transferring to UCLA last spring."

Davis did not play at all during his freshman season, and as a result, still has four years of eligibility left. He is joining a Hawaii team that could give him an opportunity to play as early as next season. Former three-star recruit Micah Alejado is projected to be the team's starter. This past season, he completed 49 of 70 passing attempts for 585 yards and six TDs.

How did Nico Iamaleava transferring to UCLA affect Dermaricus Davis' decision to leave the Bruins?

With Nico Iamaleava joining the UCLA Bruins, it threw their QB room into chaos. Iamaleava is viewed by most as one of the top young QBs in the nation. As a result, he is expected to be the starter next season.

With Iamaleava joining the team, QB Joey Aguilar, who transferred to the team from Appalachian State in December, reentered the portal and committed to Tennessee. He joined UCLA to be the starter and that was no longer likely with Nico Iamaleava joining the team.

Dermaricus Davis likely left the Bruins for similar reasons. While Davis would not have been the starter this season, he was pushed further down the depth chart with Iamaleava's transfer. Additionally, Iamaleava is young enough that he could have blocked Davis from a starting job for several seasons.

By transferring to Hawaii, Davis is giving himself a chance to compete for the starting job as early as next season. Even if he does not win the job, he will have a better chance of earning playing time there than he would at UCLA.