Texas lineman impressed during Saturday’s visit
Highly recruited 4-star offensive lineman Zaden Krempin received VIP treatment when he visited the University of Arkansas for the Red-White spring game Saturday.
Much of interest in Arkansas was because of his prior relationship with offensive line coach Eric Mateos while Mateos was at Baylor.
Krempin and his family were immediately escorted to Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman’s office when he arrived.
“When we got there, we went straight to Coach Pittman’s office,” Krempin said. “I was very impressed with Coach Pittman and Coach Mateos. I love that Coach Pittman works with the O-line during the individual sessions every practice. He’s truly an O-line guy to the bone. They made me feel very welcome and want me to be a Razorback.”
Krempin, 6-5, 265 pounds, of Prosper, Texas, has 26 scholarship offers from Arkansas, Oklahoma, LSU, Southern Cal, Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida State, Tennessee, Oregon, Penn State and others.
Rivals rates him a 4-star recruit, the No. 13 offensive tackle and the No. 102 overall prospect in the nation for the 2026 class.
A 1-on-1 tour from Mateos also showed he was a priority of the Razorbacks.
“Coach Mateos took us on a tour of the entire campus after the game,” Krempin said. “The campus is beautiful and the student-athlete center was very cool. I also met with the strength and conditioning coach and loved the weight room. Overall today was awesome. Arkansas was already high on my list, but after today I’d say they moved up.”
When asked what else caught his attention, Krempin said the Arkansas coaches stood out.
“I guess the biggest thing is the coaches,” he said. “The time I got to spend with Coach Pittman privately was awesome. I’ve been to a lot of schools and they are all nice and have the pretty bells and whistles, but the coaches and culture is what makes all the difference.”
‘JET’ VISITS
One of the nation’s fastest 2026 prospects, Caleb ‘The Jet” Smith, also visited Arkansas for the spring game and said he liked what he heard from secondary coach Deron Wilson and receivers coach Ronnie Fouch.
“It went really good today,” Smith said. “I got to talk to Coach Wilson and Coach Fouch. I really liked what they were talking to me about. I loved the campus Arkansas had and also their football program. I hope to be back up there soon.”
Smith, 5-10, 160 pounds, of Allen, Texas, has accumulated offers from Arkansas, Houston, Utah, Nebraska, Baylor, Pittsburgh and others.
He was able to hang out with his former teammate, Razorback defensive back Jaden Allen.
Smith was named the District 5-6A first-team offensive utility player last season while having 43 catches for 439 yards, 3 touchdowns and rushing 18 times for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns.
He recently was timed at 10.35 seconds in the 100 meters which reportedly is the third-fastest in the nation for a sophomore. Smith was also able to get a glimpse of Arkansas’ track and field facility during his visit.
“I got to see the track today and really loved it,” he said. “I’ve only heard good things about the track program, so that is always a plus. I do plan on running track in college.”