Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava officially announced his transfer to UCLA via a social media post Sunday.

“My journey at UT has come to an end,” he wrote on Instagram. “This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me where I need to be.

“Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!”

Iamaleava was a highly regarded recruit who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season. He was No. 1 in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings and immediately gives UCLA one of the best-known players in the sport upon his arrival. The Bruins are coming off a 5-7 debut season by coach DeShaun Foster.

Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Long Beach, California, was recruited by UCLA out of high school. His younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, committed to UCLA out of high school but changed his commitment on the morning of signing day and signed with Arkansas.

Those recruitments gave both sides plenty of familiarity and the ability to potentially move quickly.

Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his first season as a starter, but in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State in the playoff, he threw for more than 200 yards only twice.

Tennessee’s offense finished No. 9 in the conference in scoring with 25.0 points per game in SEC play. The Volunteers’ offense was No. 1 in rushing and No. 11 in passing in league play.

UCLA is coming off a season in which it finished No. 14 in scoring offense and No. 12 in total offense in Big Ten play.

Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million at Tennessee under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. The deal would have paid him in the $10 million range altogether had he stayed four years at Tennessee.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced last week after the Volunteers’ spring game that the program was moving forward without Iamaleava after he missed practice and meetings April 11. He hadn’t alerted anyone on the team and was unresponsive afterward.

Heupel thanked Iamaleava and called the situation unfortunate, but added, “There’s no one bigger than the Power T, and that includes me.”

Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, officially entered the transfer portal Wednesday with a do-not-contact tag.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.

The New Jersey Devils‘ injury woes may have reached alarming new heights.

Defenseman Brenden Dillon and forward Cody Glass exited during the second and third periods, respectively, in Game 1 of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, a 4-1 loss for New Jersey. The Devils were also briefly without defenseman Luke Hughes, who left in the third period but was able to return.

New Jersey entered the postseason already undermanned. Top forward Jack Hughes, Luke’s brother, had season-ending shoulder surgery in March, and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler is also not expected to be available in the first round.

Coach Sheldon Keefe remained optimistic though about one of the team’s latest injured bodies.

“(Dillon) was eager to get back out there,” Keefe said by way of an update. Doctors ultimately held Dillon out for “precautionary reasons.”

The veteran blueliner was taken to the ice by Carolina forward William Carrier battling in front of the Devils’ net. He remained down for several minutes before being helped off by New Jersey’s training staff.

It was a disastrous third period sequence that shortened New Jersey’s bench further. Hughes went flying into the Devils’ net after tripping over Hurricanes’ forward Andrei Svechnikov, and ran off the ice cradling his right arm. Then, Devils’ goaltender Jacob Markstrom accidentally clipped Glass with his stick while appearing to aim for Svechnikov. Glass left and did not return while Hughes finished the game.

New Jersey will have to wait and see who is available when they take on Carolina in Game 2 on Tuesday. For now, Keefe won’t let the Devils dwell on what they can’t control.

“To a man, myself included,” he said, “we’re all going to have to be better.”

CESKE BUDEJOVICE, Czech Republic — Tessa Janecke scored in overtime as the United States prevailed over defending champion Canada 4-3 to win the women’s ice hockey world championship Sunday.

Janecke struck with 2:54 left in overtime for the Americans to claim their 11th title at the worlds. Taylor Heise set up the winning goal.

With Sarah Fillier going to the bench, Canadian defenseman Jocelyne Larocque was pressured behind the net and sent a pass up the boards, with Heise intercepting the pass at the right point inside the blue line and feeding Janecke to score into the open left side of the net.

Janecke immediately celebrated her third goal of the tournament by throwing her stick into the stands.

Abbey Murphy and Heise each scored a goal and had an assist, and Caroline Harvey also scored for the United States.

“Shock and awe,” U.S. goalie Gwyneth Philips said after the drama. “I’m ecstatic.”

Canada still leads the world tournament with 13 gold medals. The cross-border rivals have met in the championship game in all but one tournament, in 2019, when host Finland defeated Canada in the semifinal before losing to the U.S. squad.

The U.S. cruised through the tournament, winning the preliminary group with victories in all four games, including a 2-1 win over Canada. The Americans then eliminated Germany in the quarterfinals and Czech Republic in the semifinals at the 12-day, 10-nation tournament.

In the last major international test before the Milan Winter Games in February, the U.S. has now won two of the past three world championships, though Canada is the defending Olympic champion.

Danielle Serdachny, Jennifer Gardiner and Fillier scored for Canada, which outshot the U.S. 47-30.

U.S. captain Hilary Knight recorded an assist to increase her record at the worlds to 53. She is the all-time scoring leader with 120 points. In her 15th world championship appearance, she won a record 10th gold medal.

Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin had an assist to top the scoring table at the tournament with 12 points (four goals, eight assists).

In a classic encounter between the two archrivals, Fillier tied the game for Canada at 3-3 with 5:48 remaining, forcing overtime.

Heise had restored a 3-2 lead for the Americans 5:27 into the final period with a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the net on a 5-on-3 power play.

U.S. goaltender Aerin Frankel had to be replaced by Philips 4:35 into the final period after a crash with Laura Stacey, who received a penalty for charging, giving the Americans the 5-on-3 advantage.