The fallout between quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the Tennessee Volunteers ended up happening in the public and largely over NIL. It’s not the first time that kind of falling out has occurred and it likely won’t be the last. However, it is one that appears to have cost him money in the long run.

Analyst Greg McElroy compared the situation to that of former Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond on Always College Football. Transferring to try and get more money immediately might work in the short run, but it could potentially cost a player money in the long run.

Bond made a historic catch in the Iron Bowl, building a legacy there. However, that was lost when he chose to transfer out of the program. Essentially, there’s long-term money and benefits that come from the play and being a legendary player in a program. However, transferring makes it much more difficult to capitalize throughout your life in exchange for money made in the short term. That’s a difficult to quantify amount of lost money.

“That catch has been immortalized by Alabama fans and in many by art,” Greg McElroy said. “People are drawing paintings of it. People are profiting off of that. You know who’s not profiting off of that? Isaiah Bond. Because Isaiah Bond after the fact went from an Alabama legend, where he’d never have to pay for another drink in Tuscaloosa the rest of his life, and probably would have had many opportunities to potentially make money because of having participated in that play. Instead, he leaves to go to Texas the following year and now Alabama wants nothing to do with him. That’s how much money was potentially left on the table.

“Yeah, you can’t measure it. You can’t put a price tag on it right now, but yes, maybe $1 million was lost by Isaiah Bond or $1 million was lost by Nico Iamaleava or gained — in Isaiah Bond’s case, he made more at Texas than he would have at Alabama, but because he left Alabama he now no longer has earning potential in Tuscaloosa.”

Nico Iamaleava was reportedly making $2.2 to $2.5 million annually from NIL at Tennessee. That number is already reportedly set to decrease at UCLA, though will still be better than $1.5 million. Beyond that, however, McElroy is concerned that had Iamaleava made himself a program legend at Tennessee, there would be more long-term value. That’s not something he believes is as possible or as lucrative at UCLA.

“What kind of money was left on the table by Nico Iamaleava? Had he gone out, had an incredible year this upcoming year, made the Playoff, made it to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist, and graduate as an all-time great Tennessee quarterback, what would that contract have actually been worth? There’s no telling, but I would imagine it’s significantly more than what could be earned at UCLA… People are walking away from good situations where they could have a lifetime of earnings from one specific school, in favor of the hey, I gotta get mine today,” McElroy said. “And, ultimately, that’s a very short-sighted viewpoint, especially when taking into account what Nico could have been or what Isaiah Bond could have been or what several other players could have been for their school had they just stayed put for a little while longer.”

In the end, Nico Iamaleava was negotiating for himself and Tennessee on its own behalf. They weren’t able to come to a deal and he was forced to find one elsewhere. It’s part of the modern system of college athletics, even if it does change how many fans view their connection to players.

Score By Periods

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Baylor BU	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Iowa State ISU	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	7	1

W: Schurman, Lauren (14-10)
L: Walker, Lillie (11-9)

AMES, Iowa – Baylor Softball fell against Iowa State, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at the Cyclone Sports Complex. The Bears are now 26-25 on the season and 11-12 in conference play. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears got runners on and in scoring position early in its matchup, after Brooklyn Carter and Shaylon Govan recorded back-to-back one-out singles but that would be it for Baylor in the first. 
 
Lillie Walker and the Baylor defense sat the Cyclones down in order in the bottom of the first before capitalizing themselves in the top of the second. 
 
Starting off the second inning with a double from Turiya Coleman, BU brought home its lone run after Amber Toven singled and Coleman scored to make it a 1-0 game. 
 
Tying the game in the home half of the second inning, Iowa State scored on two doubles before Lillie Walker picked up three strikeouts. 
 
Baylor reached base with a single in the third, a double in the fourth and an error in the fifth but Baylor wasn’t able to capitalize after getting a runner to third in the fifth. 
 
After Karynton Dawson hit her second double of the day in the top of the sixth didn’t result in any runs scored, Iowa State capitalized in the bottom of the seventh after two doubles to walk off the game and secure the win. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bears recorded seven hits in the matchup
• Brooklyn carter went 2-for-3 at the plate
• Karynton Dawson went 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles
• Turiya Coleman recorded a double and scored the Bears’ lone run
• Lillie Walker pitched her 9^th complete game of the season
• The Bears and Cyclones are now 1-1 on the series
• BU still holds the 46-25 all-time record over Iowa State

 
UP NEXT
The Bears will face Iowa State for the series finale of the three-game series Sunday, May 4, at 12 p.m. CT. 
 

 – BaylorBears.com –

HUNTSVILLE, Texas. – Louisiana Tech softball dropped its regular season finale 3-2 in eight innings to Sam Houston on Sunday afternoon at the Bearkat Softball Complex. The Bulldogs finish the regular season at 30-23 (15-12 CUSA) and will now await their seeding for the upcoming Conference USA tournament next week.  
 
Alyssa Martin and the Bulldogs took a perfect game and a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but SHSU was able to tie the game and force extras as they plated two runs on three hits. Martin tossed 6.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit while striking out two.
 
Allie Floyd (21-13) took the loss after pitching the final 1.1 innings. She allowed two runs on three hits.
 
The Bulldogs were outhit 4-3 by the Bearkats in the loss. Claire Raley, Allie Furr, and KB Briley all collected hits for the Bulldogs. Addison Snyder and Raley drove in one run each, while Alexis Gilio and Furr scored LA Tech’s runs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
LA Tech jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning after plating two runs on one hit. Gilio was hit by a pitch to start the game and advanced 60 feet to second on a Reagan Marchant walk. Raley doubled to left center to score Gilio, while Snyder recorded a sac fly to score Marchant.
 
The Bulldogs recorded one hit in the fifth and one in the seventh but could not get either runner past second base.
 
Down 2-0 and hitless entering the seventh, the Bearkats plated two runs on three hits to force extra innings. SHSU used back-to-back doubles to start the half and plated their first run on the second double. With one runner on, a groundout to first allowed a runner to reach third, followed by a single up the middle to tie the game at two apiece.
 
The Bearkats used a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn the 3-2 win.
 
NOTABLES
The Bulldogs move to 21-15 all-time against SHSU.
Today’s game was the fourth extra inning contest of the season for the Bulldogs.
Claire Raley recorded her seventh double of the season.
Alyssa Martin recorded a new career-high with 6.0 innings pitched in the circle.
Alyssa Martin registered her 20^th strikeout of the season.
 
UP NEXT
LA Tech will now await its seeding for the upcoming Conference USA Tournament. The tournament kicks off Wednesday in Bowling Green, Ky., on the campus of Western Kentucky.  
 

ATHENS — SEC Network stars Chris Doering and Peter Burns came right out and said last week what some around the league have been thinking.

Georgia football enters the 2025 season atop the SEC, but the program’s air of dominance has been shaken by transfer portal and NIL dealings.“I don’t know if we’ve ever gone into a season with more questions marks about Georgia since maybe after Kirby’s second year,” Doering told DawgNation.

“We’ve always felt good about their depth and next man up, but the questions about the quarterback position are legitimate, and you look at the way they were physically beaten up by Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl — we don’t see that when teams play Kirby’s Bulldogs — so there are legitimate questions about how far the gap is.

“I don’t think anyone has necessarily passed them, but they aren’t head and shoulders above everyone else like they had been for the last five or six years.”

Burns has picked Georgia to win the SEC the past four seasons, but he gives the edge to Texas with the 2025 season approaching.

“It’s more of a 1A and 1B, and I give Texas the edge because of Arch (Manning), their schedule and the NIL money,” Burns told DawgNation. “But I’m not saying there’s going to be a major drop-off or 8-4 season or anything like that.”

Smart, himself, has shared the challenges the 2025 Bulldogs have coming up this season with an inexperienced quarterback leading a very young roster.

“Mental and physical toughness, I think, is one of the number one areas we can get better at,” Smart said after seeing mixed results from his offense in the annual G-Day spring scrimmage last month.

“Grow, have more guys that can play winning football.”

Smart gave a mixed review on QB Gunner Stockton after the G-Day game when asked how the fourth-year sophomore had improved the most in the spring session.

“Confidence, understanding the offense, knowing when to take a shot, which he didn’t do a great job today,” Smart said. “He had a couple times where he could have thrown the ball or checked it down. He took shots that he probably didn’t have to.

“But he’s done a really good job with his feet, his legs. He made plays with his legs today, and I thought Ryan (Puglisi) did too.”

Stockton, of course, came on in relief of starter Carson Beck in the 22-19 SEC Championship Game win over Texas and was the starter in the 23-10 CFP Quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

Stockton was 20-of-32 passing for 234 yards with a touchdown against the Irish but was sacked four times and had a fumble that directly led to a Notre Dame touchdown.

It’s fair to say Stockton enters the 2025 season an unproven commodity, just as there will be new faces on the offensive and defensive lines.

Georgia had four starting offensive linemen and four defensive line veterans move on to the NFL.

“There’s a lot of big bodies for us that had to be replaced, and we’re not where we need to be on the line of scrimmage,” Smart said. “I’m very pleased with the kids we have, I’m just not pleased with where we are. We have to get better.”

Some have written off Smart’s comments as a championship level coach always pushing for more improvement.

But Doering explained why there’s more reason for concern that in the past at Georgia, and it has everything to do with the transfer portal and the unlimited NIL funds, as the House vs. NCAA settlement does not yet have a final ruling.

“We’re seeing things we haven’t seen from Georgia before, we’re seeing the inability to retain the roster,” Doering said in an SEC Network Instagram clip.

“They were one of the last schools to be able to keep their team and have the kind of depth you have to depth to win championships …. They go and get manhandled by Ole Miss the way they did, they get physically beaten by Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, these are things that are signs of concern.”

Burns, in the SEC Network clip, noted how the formula has changed for powerhouse programs like Georgia and the Alabama teams led by Nick Saban.

“They were built on the foundation of, ‘I have a draft pick, and then the backup of the draft pick is a draft pick, and the backup of that draft pick is a freshman who will become a draft pick,’ “ Burns said.

“That stacking of talent is no longer available because of NIL and the transfer portal.”

Burns said the trend begs a question.

“If Georgia is a team that has struggled, is it Texas that’s now the superpower of the SEC, going back to back in their college football playoff runs, and they are spending $35 to $40 million on this roster?” Burns said.

“If you’re looking at the numbers, the SEC does not run through Georgia, the SEC powerhouse is the Texas Longhorns.”