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From Tennessee to UCLA, Nico Iamaleava is getting a fresh start close to home

Related Topics: Nicholaus Iamaleava

LAS VEGAS -- Standing inside the Mandalay Bay conference center, all 6 feet and 4 inches of him draped in a powder blue suit, there is nowhere for Nico Iamaleava to hide.

His hair is tightly braided and held by a rubber band, while black-rimmed glasses perch on his nose. Iamaleava's left wrist is adorned by a silver, diamond-studded watch worth thousands; his right is encircled by a pink elastic band honoring his mother, Marleinna, a breast cancer survivor.

Throughout the roughly nine hours Iamaleava spends at Big Ten media days in late July, his eyes dart in nearly every direction.