In July 2021, when the NCAA was forced to allow college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, Tennessee dove headfirst into the new marketplace.

Those around UT saw the major shift coming from far off, and they were twitching at the start line while others in college athletics cautiously tiptoed forward.

Spyre Sports Group, a savvy Knoxville-based sports marketing agency, took the lead and immediately put UT ahead of the pack in the NIL arms race.

As an NIL collective, Spyre was independent of UT but signed branding contracts with the university’s athletes and targeted recruits coveted by the Vols.

All that appeared to be within NCAA rules, which made NIL benefits available to athletes for the first time in history. But those rules, at best, were vague and ever-changing. At worst, they were contradictory and illogical.

But NIL, to some degree, was lawful under the NCAA.

So Spyre seized the opportunity and targeted prized recruits, including Nico Iamaleava, a five-star quarterback from Long Beach, California, who was coveted by every college football program in the country.

Spyre’s efforts ran parallel to UT’s traditional recruitment of Iamaleava, just like college coaches had done for decades. There were visits to campus, meetings with coaches, text messages and phone calls.

By spring 2022, Iamaleava had signed a lucrative NIL deal with Spyre and committed to play football at UT – although not at the same time.

Soon after, the NCAA amended its policy, clarified key parts of its NIL rules and vowed to retroactively investigate schools and collectives that it felt exploited the weakest points of its initial policy.

Specifically, the NCAA reinforced its policy that using NIL as a recruiting inducement was forbidden.

In January 2024, when the NCAA conducted an investigation into allegations that UT broke rules involving NIL benefits of athletes in multiple sports, it appeared that Spyre’s pursuit of Iamaleava was a key target.

The NCAA has not presented UT with a notice of allegations. But media reports and statements from Spyre and UT administrators indicate the NCAA is trying to pin a violation on the Iamaleava recruitment.

Here’s a timeline to explain how UT, Spyre, Iamaleava and the NCAA got to this point and what’s in dispute.

Nico Iamaleava is recruited as NCAA allows NIL

May 12, 2021: Tennessee offers a football scholarship to Iamaleava, according to 247Sports.com. Those agreements are nonbinding and have no monetary value or relevance to NCAA rules. Tennessee was the 16th school to make Iamaleava a scholarship offer.

July 1, 2021: NCAA first allows athletes to receive NIL benefits. The policy decision and effective dates were announced hours before laws or executive orders in more than a dozen states that have the same impact were set to take effect.

Aug. 31, 2021: California, Iamaleava’s home state, becomes the first state to allow high school athletes to make money off their NIL. That allows Iamaleava to sign an NIL contract outside the NCAA’s oversight, regardless of which university he chooses to attend.

But Iamaleava, who does not immediately sign an NIL deal, is not alone. High school athletes from other states begin retaining attorneys in California so they can sign NIL deals before enrolling at a university.

Quarterback Jaden Rashada consummated his NIL deal with the University of Miami using an attorney in California for that very reason. It was Mike Caspino, the same lawyer that helped Iamaleava, The Athletic reported.

Rashada ultimately switched his commitment from Miami to Florida, whose collective reportedly offered him a $13 million NIL deal. But that agreement fell through, which led to an ongoing NCAA investigation into Florida and Rashada signing with Arizona State.

Oct. 9, 2021: Iamaleava’s recruitment revs up in his junior year, as he takes unofficial visits across the country from California to SEC schools.

On a trip to Ole Miss, for example, Iamaleava shares on social media a photo of him alongside family members in front of a small plane with the message, “Out here with the fam @OleMissFB”

Nov. 27, 2021: Iamaleava makes his first unofficial visit to Tennessee.

Under NCAA rules, players must pay their own expenses for unofficial visits. Those are routine for any recruit. According to 247Sports, Iamaleava had already taken unofficial visits to Georgia, Notre Dame, Ole Miss and Alabama.

Unspecified date: On Jan. 30, the day the NCAA investigation into Tennessee's NIL practices came to light, The New York Times reported that Spyre had facilitated a private jet for Iamaleava to fly to Knoxville while UT was recruiting him. If the NCAA deemed Spyre or the person who provided the plane as a booster, that would be a violation.

But was Iamaleava flying as a client of Spyre or as a UT football recruit?

Whether the flight was a violation might depend on when it occurred, who paid for it and whether any permissible contractual agreement with a collective was in place, Knox News has learned.

March 4, 2022: Iamaleava takes another unofficial visit to Tennessee.

Iamaleava signs blockbuster NIL deal, then commits to Vols

March 11, 2022: The Athletic reports that a “five-star recruit in the Class of 2023 signed an agreement on March 11 with a school’s NIL collective that could pay him more than $8 million by the end of his junior year in college.”

Iamaleava is not identified in that article. But The Athletic later names him as the player who signed the $8 million NIL deal. And Spyre, which now represents more than 100 UT athletes, is later identified as the group that signed Iamaleava.

It was believed to be the largest NIL deal signed by a non-professional athlete at the time, which makes Iamaleava the first poster boy for the NIL era.

March 21, 2022: Iamaleava commits to Tennessee, announcing his decision on Instagram. It’s a non-binding verbal agreement for both the athlete and the school.

On the same day, VolQuest.com publishes a video where Iamaleava says he chose Tennessee because of the coaching staff, offensive style and “family vibes.” Iamaleava comes from a large family with seven siblings.

Those are typical reasons given by any player committing to a school. They have relevance because the NCAA does not allow NIL benefits to serve as recruiting inducements.

According to reports, Iamaleava had already signed his NIL contract before committing to Tennessee. And Spyre later says that his contract was independent of UT and not tied to his enrollment at any specific university.

NCAA tries to turn back clock to punish NIL violations

May 9, 2022: NCAA reinforces to member schools that using NIL benefits as recruiting inducements violates its rules.

It amends its policy with plans to retroactively investigate “improper behavior” and NIL collectives involved in recruiting players over the previous 10 months.

The retroactive targets, according to the NCAA release, would be those who committed the “most severe violations of recruiting rules or payments for athletics performance.”

The NCAA announcement comes 59 days after Iamaleava signed his NIL deal, which was permitted under California law, and 49 days after he committed to Tennessee.

The NCAA’s amended approach intends to limit NIL collectives to paying athletes already enrolled in the university rather than recruits. But that genie is already out of the bottle because of laws in California and other states.

Also, the NCAA seeks to re-define some NIL collectives as boosters if it feels they used NIL benefits as recruiting inducements.

In retrospect, the NCAA’s amended policy may have been a reaction to Iamaleava’s recruitment and high-profile NIL deal.

But it made the NCAA vulnerable to antitrust lawsuits. It was trying to restrict athletes’ NIL rights while state laws were widening them.

Iamaleava finally begins football career with Vols

Dec. 16, 2022: Iamaleava, after graduating high school early, enrolls at Tennessee alongside other early enrollees and begins practicing with the football team before the Orange Bowl.

Dec. 21, 2022: Iamaleava officially signs his letter of intent as part of Tennessee’s 2023 class as the NCAA early signing period begins.

March 26, 2023: During his first appearance with members of the media as a Tennessee player, Iamaleava is asked if he faced extra pressure because of his NIL deal. He politely dodged the topic.

“No pressure, man,” Iamaleava said with a wide grin. “Next question.”

Iamaleava may not be allowed to talk about his NIL deal, per terms of the contract. The Athletic reported Iamaleava’s contract could be terminated early if he violates a confidentiality clause, which are common in such deals.

Jan. 1, 2024: Iamaleava makes his first start for Tennessee. He leads the Vols to a 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl, earning the MVP award in an impressive performance.

NCAA launches investigation, and Tennessee fires back

Jan. 29, 2024: UT Chancellor Donde Plowman sends a fiery letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker, which is obtained on Jan. 30 by Knox News via an open records request.

In the letter, Plowman criticizes the NCAA’s mishandling of NIL since 2021.

“Two and a half years of vague and contradictory NCAA memos, emails and ‘guidance’ about name, image and likeness has created extraordinary chaos that student-athletes and institutions are struggling to navigate,” she wrote. “In short, the NCAA is failing.”

Jan. 30, 2024: Tennessee confirms the NCAA is investigating it for potential rules violations involving NIL benefits for athletes. A source with direct knowledge of the case tells Knox News that it involves multiple sports, including football, and alleges Level 1 and Level 2 violations.

Iamaleava’s involvement is reported by the New York Times, which triggers a defense from Spyre.

Lawyer Tom Mars, representing Spyre, releases a statement defending UT and Iamaleava against potential NCAA allegations. He says Spyre’s dealings with the quarterback did not constitute a recruiting inducement.

“In early 2022, independent of the University of Tennessee or anyone associated with its athletics program, Spyre Sports entered into a mutually beneficial contractual relationship with Nico Iamaleava that involved a limited assignment of his NIL rights, no matter which school he chose to attend," Mars said.

“… The agreement required Spyre to protect the value of Nico's NIL rights and specifically stated that 'nothing in (the) agreement constitutes any form of inducement to ATHLETE to enroll at any school and/or join any athletic team.' In short, the agreement was fully consistent with then existing NCAA NIL 'guidelines' and had nothing to do with recruiting Nico to the University of Tennessee or any other school.”

Meanwhile, Iamaleava shows his support of the UT chancellor by sharing an Instagram post that says, “Donde Plowman vs NCAA is the beef I didn't know I needed in my life."

Tennessee vs. NCAA goes to federal court

Jan. 31, 2024: Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti files an antitrust suit against the NCAA over its “NIL-recruiting ban" in the Eastern District of Tennessee federal court.

The suit mentions the UT investigation as an example of the "unlawful restriction" of the NCAA's NIL policy, and it immediately draws support from Gov. Bill Lee and other state officials.

The NCAA releases a statement, an action it rarely takes.

“The NCAA remains firmly committed to protecting and expanding student-athletes’ NIL rights and opportunities,” the NCAA said. “However, our membership has steadfastly supported the prohibition on impermissible recruiting contacts, booster involvement in recruiting prospects and the use of NIL offers as recruiting inducements.”

UT athletics director Danny White responds with a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"They are stating that the nebulous, contradictory NIL guidelines (written by the NCAA not the membership) don’t matter and applying the old booster bylaws to collectives," White said. "If that’s the case, then 100% of the major programs in college athletics have significant violations.

"... I refuse to allow the NCAA to irrationally use Tennessee as an example for their own agenda."

White also argues that the NCAA is to blame because it was unprepared to deal with NIL almost three years ago.

"We need to be spending our time and energy on solutions to better organize college athletics in the NIL era," White said, "something that NCAA leadership failed to do back in 2021."

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nico Iamaleava, NIL and NCAA's investigation into Tennessee football