Sam Pittman analyzes where Madden Iamaleava stands in spring development

Iamaleava has been a hot-button name this past week across college football. In Fayetteville, though, it’s more so about one of the reserves at quarterback for the ‘Hogs.

Sam Pittman spoke on the progression of Madden Iamaleava, a true freshman quarterback, to this point of spring practice at Arkansas. He says that Iamaleava has come along well, especially since he didn’t participate in high school football last fall, with them expecting that to continue into this next season for the Razorbacks.

“Yeah, isn’t that something? I mean, he’s done really well, especially coming off his – you know, he didn’t play his senior year,” said Pittman. “Very mature. Well-coached out of high school. And, but, yeah, I think he’s made a ton of improvement and I think you’ll see that throughout the rest of the spring and then, you know, the summer and, and fall camp.”

Iamaleava, obviously, is the younger brother of QB Nico Iamaleava, the former starter for the Tennessee Volunteers. He has very notably entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, though, coming off of negotiations regarding NIL in Knoxville. He is now, per the latest reporting, expected to end up at UCLA but, to this point, this storyline has been a negative one overall for the Iamaleavas.

Still, Madden Iamaleava is starting his own college career in the Southeastern Conference. That’s after he, a former commit himself to the Bruins, flipped to the Razorbacks on Signing Day in December.

Iamaleava, a Long Beach native, played in high schoo at Warren before trying to transfer to Long Beach Poly, where he was eventually ineligible. Even so, he was the No. 377 overall recruit as a four-star in 2025. He also rated as a Top-25 QB in the class and a Top-30 player out of the state of California. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. That made Iamaleava the third highest-ranked signee in Arkansas’ recruiting class in ’25 following his flip.

A lot is still uncertain about what next season looks like for some of the Iamaleavas. That said, that’s not the case for Madden as he begins his freshman season as one of the backups for the Razorbacks in the fall.