The University of Arkansas football program received the verbal commitment of defensive tackle target Carnell Jackson Jr. on Monday night after visiting Friday and during Saturday's scrimmage.

He sees his future being in good hands with Razorback Coach Sam Pittman and defensive line coach Deke Adams.

"When you're a Razorback, you get a lot, you get a family oriented place," said Jackson, who felt God led him to Arkansas. "They really care about their players. They're really genuine about how they do things there."

Jackson, 6-3 and 342 pounds, of Auburn, Ala., picked Arkansas over scholarship offers from South Florida, Tulane, Alabama-Birmingham, Memphis and several others.

He has a 3.5 GPA and is impressed with the Sam M. Walton College of Business.

"They have a 100% graduation rate for their athletes," Jackson said. "I'm trying to major in business and finance. I know that will be the best school to go to. They have a lot of partnerships ... that can benefit me as a person."

He received his Arkansas offer from Adams on March 14. He earned MVP honors of the defensive linemen on March 8 at the Rivals Camp in Dothan, Ala.

"He's a very chill, laid-back guy," Jackson said of Adams. "He's very family-oriented person. He teaches the way I like to do things. I think his coaching style and my playing style matches. He has a very good relationship with all of his players."

Jackson is a 3-star prospect by 247Sports, the lone recruiting service to rate him. He recorded 36 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hurries and a blocked field goal as a junior.

Jackson scheduled to make an official visit to Arkansas on June 13-15. He recently squatted 535 pounds four times.

He's Arkansas 12th commitment for the 2026 class.

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While the NCAA transfer portal for basketball opened on March 24 and ends April 22, the football transfer portal will open on Wednesday and run until April 25.

Coach Sam Pittman addressed what the Arkansas football team could be looking for position-wise in the portal during an April 3 meeting with the media.

"Defensively is really what we're looking for," Pittman said. "You have a limited budget and we need some help number-wise as well. We need some help in the secondary and we need some help on the defensive line a little bit. So that would be the top priority. It doesn't mean I wouldn't take a wide receiver, it just means it not a priory one right now."

Arkansas will most likely look to add some transfer safeties while help at cornerback could also be a possibly.

"If you look at our board, our numbers in the secondary aren't very good," Pittman said. "So they're not horrendous or anything like that but we need to add three to four minimum. It depends on how the money stretches."

Pittman also mentioned the possibility of adding a veteran linebacker.

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Florida State transfer center Malique Ewin arrived in Fayetteville on Monday morning for his official visit with the Arkansas men's basketball team.

Ewin, 6-11 and 230 pounds, named Arkansas, Auburn, Kansas, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State as his top schools last week.

He expected to depart from Fayetteville on Tuesday night.

He started all 30 games at center as a junior for the Seminoles in 2024-25. He averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds with an ACC-best 59.6% field-goal percentage.

He blocked 24 shots and shot 65.3% from the free-throw line. He had a season-high 26 points against SMU on March 8.

Ewin is expected to make an official visit to Mississippi State on Thursday and Friday.

Ewin played one season at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and averaged 14.9 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 62.6% from the field. He played his freshman season at Ole Miss and averaged 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 14 games.

He was a consensus 4-star recruit in the 2022 class as a senior at Berkmar High School in Kilburn, Ga.