This post was updated July 27 at 7:39 p.m.

LAS VEGAS — Decked in a silver watch and a UCLA emblem, Las Vegas’ prized possession paraded Mandalay Bay on Thursday, trailed by a nonstop rotation of cameras and questions.

Barely seconds after Nico Iamaleava spoke with local reporters for the first time since his abrupt departure from Tennessee and arrival at UCLA football, CBS Sports whisked him off for a chat. And that carousel didn’t stop. Nearly 20 media outlets lined up for a piece of college football’s most talked-about figure.

Once the five-star quarterback had cycled through a gauntlet of media interviews, Iamaleava took his place at the podium. He inched forward, tugged at his powder-blue suit jacket and squared up to a cluster of cameras and notebooks within two feet of eyeshot.

Every seat was claimed with 10 minutes left until Iamaleava was scheduled to take the podium. But no one came to sit – for the next 24 minutes, an unabating wave of reporters fired questions that had simmered since his controversial exit from Knoxville, Tennessee.

Across about 20 interviews and one final podium appearance, one question took on all sorts of renditions: Did money fuel his departure from Tennessee?

“Ultimately, it came down to me wanting to be back home … next to my family while still competing at the highest level, and that’s what UCLA provided for me,” Iamaleava told a group of Los Angeles-based reporters.

And when the former Volunteer faced one last barrage, all the speculation came crashing down as he was pressed about the rumors that he’d left Tennessee for money or to escape a collapsing offensive line.

To hear him tell it, the rumors were as unfamiliar to him as they were unproven. Iamaleava stayed firm in saying the move was about coming home to Long Beach – just 30 miles south of UCLA’s campus. The rest, Iamaleava added, were nothing more than “false reports.”

“My time to leave Tennessee was around the time that … there were the reports that came out,” Iamaleava said. “Just false reports that made me not feel comfortable in the position I was in. I always wanted to come back home and be closer to my mom, be closer to my dad. … In our Samoan culture, we’re always together and that was the main thing for me.”

Those “false reports” demanded further explanation.

“Just false stuff about whether it was a financial thing or not,” he said. “I hope every Tennessee fan understands that it was really one of the hardest decisions that I ever had to make.”

Reports circulated in April that Iamaleava’s camp pressured Tennessee to ink a $4 million name, image and likeness deal. But when asked about his arrangement at UCLA, he refused to share specifics.

Iamaleava’s repeated attempts to set the record straight were why Foster ensured his soon-to-be starting signal-caller came to Las Vegas.

“It’s time to let you tell your story,” Foster said. “A lot of people wrote a book for you and didn’t talk to him about it. I wanted him to come out here – and not for me. Because you guys are going to ask me these questions, and now I’m speaking for him, so I wanted him to be able to go out there and really tell his truth.”

Iamaleava also shot down chatter about a supposedly weak Tennessee roster – particularly the offensive line that gave up 28 sacks – saying he “had a great O-line.”

For Iamaleava, Thursday was his first time catching wind of the same allegations that had echoed online for nearly four months. To escape the chaos, the social media-averse Iamaleava turned to a quieter passion.

“I was playing a lot of video games with my friends and cousins and really paid no mind to it,” Iamaleava said. “Sometimes I had no idea (what was happening) – my cousins would come and tell me stuff they would see and I was like, ‘I don’t care.’ A lot of that just comes with protecting your peace.”

Iamaleava’s move west brings him back to his parents and beside his brother Madden Iamaleava, who joined UCLA’s quarterback room soon after his brother.

The freshman quarterback flipped from UCLA to Arkansas on signing day in December. But before ever taking a snap in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Madden landed back where he first pledged.

“My little brother was a bonus for me,” Nico said. “And just being a helping hand to him in anything he needs, I think, was the biggest thing for me.”

While Nico said his brother would be “ready” for backup duties, his own focus in Westwood is short-term. With early-to-middle-round potential for the redshirt sophomore quarterback, a strong season could push his NFL Draft stock much higher.

“This is a year where I’m really trying to get out after,” he said. “I’m going to give my all to UCLA, and if I have the year I want, I want to get out.”

But Iamaleava said the mission is clear for that one year: bring banners to Westwood – alongside a team he described as having “a chip on their shoulder.”

That effort will commence Wednesday as the Bruins will spend 15 days in Costa Mesa, California, for training camp, before returning to Westwood and into a temporary home, with Spaulding Field undergoing renovations.

And though Iamaleava is a little late to the party, he’s swiftly winning over his locker room.

“He’s good at looking off people, and his arm – his arm is big, it’s powerful, and how he throws the ball,” said redshirt senior linebacker JonJon Vaughns. “ I can’t wait to see him play.”