Former Warren (Downey, Calif.) standout Nico Iamaleava, one of the top-rated quarterbacks in high school football, will finish his career where it started at Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.). He spent his freshman season at Poly before playing the last two years at Warren.
As a junior, he threw for 2,244 yards and had 33 touchdowns, compared to only one interception in nine games. He added 158 yards rushing and three scores. He led the Bears to an 8-1 record, with the only loss coming against Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. Iamaleava suffered an injury early in the second quarter and was never cleared to return from concussion protocols.
Long Beach Poly is coming off an 11-4 season and won the CIF Southern Section Division 4 title. Poly lost to Serra (Gardena) 21-17 in the CIF Division 1-A SoCal regional championship.
The Jackrabbits return a lot of talent, headlined by four-star cornerback Daylen Austin, three-star offensive lineman Tyson Ruffians, three-star running back Devin Samples and 2024 USC commit Jason Robinson Jr. Expect Poly to be one of the best teams in Southern California and to compete to be one of the eight teams selected in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff bracket.
Iamaleava is the No. 3 prospect overall in the Class of 2023 according to 247 Sports and released his top 12 on Christmas that includes Alabama, Auburn, BYU, Georgia, Miami, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State, Tennessee and UCLA.
Tennessee looks like the school to beat for the five-star quarterback and according to 247 Sports Crystal Ball, which currently has Iamaleava 100 percent to the Vols.
Long Beach Poly has a rich history of producing some of the best talent in the country. The Jackrabbits have had the third-most players selected in the NFL Draft since 2002 with 14, including the likes of Desean Jackson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marcedes Lewis and Winston Justice. Matt Corral will make it 15 in this year’s draft.
Source Link: https://www.maxpreps.com/
 standout Nico Iamaleava, one of the top-rated quarterbacks in high school football, Long Beach Poly){kind=link}