How do you pronounce Nico Iamaleava? How Alabama fans should say Tennessee QB's name

Alabama football finds itself in "rivalry week" in Week 8 of the college football season, with seventh-ranked Crimson Tide traveling to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville to face No. 10 Tennessee .

The 2024 meeting between the two rival teams will be the Crimson Tide's first against the Vols' current quarterback, one whom Alabama fans might not be all familiar with, depending on how much they have watched the Vols this season.

That would be redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava .

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Iamaleava was the No. 3 player in the country in the 2023 recruiting class and its No. 2-ranked quarterback, per 247Sports' Composite rankings . He's in his first season as the full-time starting quarterback for the Vols, spending last season as a backup to Joe Milton.

That said, he did start the team's Citrus Bowl victory vs. Iowa, leading the Vols to a 35-0 victory while completing 12 of 19 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. He rushed 15 times for a net gain of 27 yards and three more scores, setting the bar high for his first season as a starter in 2024.

So far this season, Iamaleava has led the Vols to a 5-1 start while completing 94 of 143 passes (65.7%) for 1,219 yards and seven touchdowns to three interceptions). He has also rushed 44 times for 135 yards (3.1 yards per carry) for another score.

As Alabama takes on Iamaleava and Tennessee, here's a quick guide on how to properly pronounce the Vols QB's name:

How do you pronounce Nico Iamaleava's name?

The proper way to pronounce the Tennessee quarterback's last name is "ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va," per his Tennessee player profile page .

Here's a clip of ESPN college football announcer Chris Fowler saying Iamaleava's name during Tennessee's road win at Oklahoma a few weeks ago during a play:

Nico Iamaleava heritage, name origin

Iamaleava is of Samoan descent.

The 6-foot-6 quarterback was named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award Watch List at the start of the season. He played in the Polynesian Bowl in January 2023 in Hawaii before heading to Knoxville for his true freshman season with the Volunteers .

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How do you pronounce Nico Iamaleava? How Alabama fans should say Tennessee QB's name