Sometimes, the punches don't stop coming. According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Arkansas' 2025 recruiting class is getting even smaller as Razorbacks true freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava plans to enter the transfer portal. Not even an hour after the news broke, On3 reported that he would join his brother Nico, committing the UCLA.
Madden Iamaleava transfers from Arkansas, commits to UCLA
He was a .9105 rated 4-start and a top 300 player per 247Sports. While that may not stick out much off of the paper, Iamaleava was arguably underrated due to eligibility issues in high school. After transferring from Warren High School to Long Beach Poly his senior year, the California Interscholastic Federation required a 'Sit-out Period' that banned him from all sports at Long Beach Poli until October 2026.
Despite that setback, Iamaleava was still offered and accepted a scholarship to UCLA out of high school. At the beginning of December, at the 11th hour, the 6-foot-3, 191-pound QB decommitted from the Bruins and called the Hogs instead.
Arkansas four-star true freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava informed Arkansas today that he’s currently planning on entering the transfer portal, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 21, 2025
Iamaleava, the younger brother of new Nico Iamaleava, flipped to Arkansas from UCLA in December… pic.twitter.com/kSZPNEWdcb
During spring camp, he was starting to turn heads with Bobby Petrino. "Madden's a special talent, now," said Arkansas' offensive coordinator. "He can really get the ball out of his hands. He sees stuff and has a great, quick release. I know there's times he drops back and he doesn't know what the play is, but somebody pops open and he can stick it and put it right on their hands. The last guy that I coached that did that a lot as a true freshman was Lamar Jackson."
Because of his raw talent, Iamaleava pushed Arkansas redshirt freshman KJ Jackson for the second QB position all spring. However, QB2 and impressing his offensive coordinator wasn't enough to keep him in Arkansas. With his history, seeing Iamaleava jump ship early shouldn't be much of a surprise, but with his brother's fiasco only starting to calm down, it feels like adding fuel to the fire.
BREAKING: Arkansas transfer QB Madden Iamaleava is following his brother Nico to UCLA, @ClowESPN reports🐻https://t.co/w2CiPagxpW https://t.co/y7b47ihSiD pic.twitter.com/T43V30GVNe
— On3 (@On3sports) April 22, 2025
Not only will Madden play second fiddle to his older brother at UCLA, but the Iamaleava family has been a punching bag in the world of college football after Nico Iamaleava's very public feud with Tennessee. He was caught shopping around for a higher paycheck, and Josh Heupel and Co. had enough of the shenanigans and decided to 'move on' from Nico.
After only four months, Iamaleava joins fellow true freshman Quentin Murphy, who entered the transfer portal five days prior.