2010 star racks up offers

There is no doubt that if class of 2010 standout, Chris Martin (6-5, 225, 4.65) from Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O'Dowd continues to play the way he has as a sophomore, and the way he has performed at camps such as NIKE and the USC Rising Stars, he will be one of the most sought after players in the nation when his turn comes around. He has been that impressive.

Martin has the things you can't coach, while being very coachable on the things that can. He already has offers on the table from Cal, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Colorado. That is a pretty impressive list of schools when you consider that Martin will be entering his junior season.

As a sophomore, Martin earned first-team all-state, third-team all-area and all-league (HM) after accounting for 106 tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

The talented junior to be recently took a trip to Southern California. While in the Los Angeles area Martin took an unofficial visit to UCLA and camped with USC.

"UCLA went good," Martin said. "It was smooth."

"The day before I went to Los Angeles, (USC offensive line coach) Coach Pat Ruel of USC offered me," Martin said. "The day after that (UCLA running backs coach) Coach Wayne Moses told my coach that Coach Rick Neuheisel was really excited to meet me."

"On my visit, Coach Neuheisel said that he saw my tape and thought I was one of the early offers and that there was no doubt in his mind," Martin said. "UCLA's campus was really beautiful."

"The campus is very athlete friendly," Martin said. "Everything you need is right in the middle of camp."

"I was flattered that UCLA took me on the full tour of the campus," Martin said. "Like I said, UCLA's campus is beautiful."

"USC also went well," Martin said. "I didn't get see the whole campus. I went to the football office and that was a community onto itself."

"The campus, though I didn't get to see the whole thing, is smaller and in an urban area," Martin said. "That's okay because I have grown up in an urban area and I would feel comfortable there."

"It is an honor to have the nation's top program offer me," Martin said. "UCLA hasn't had the success that USC has, but you can tell they (UCLA) are a program on the rise."

"Because of the direction that UCLA's program is going in, I think they will be challenging USC in the next four years and be an elite top ten program, " Martin said. "It is an honor to offers from both schools."

Martin's busy summer may not be over. He was recently invited US Army All-America Camp. It is a camp mostly for class of 2009 athletes, but they have invited a few of the elite 2010 players. He's going to talk it over with his parents and his coach. If the timing works out, he will attend this very prestigious camp.