5/9/2008 football Edit

Four-star is Utahs major tourist attraction

Rick Kimbrel

Recruiting Analyst

There is no doubt that four-star offensive lineman John Martinez (6-4, 275, 4.75) from Salt Lake City (Utah) Cottonwood is one of the best in the west, probably the north, south and east, too. There aren't many with the size of Martinez that possesses his quickness and speed. He is truly special and there's a very good reason that Martinez is at the 30-plus offer range.

"John is very athletic and moves very well," Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas said. "He's very versatile. He could end up as a guard or center on the collegiate level, but he's athletic enough to play tackle."

Just samplings of the schools that have offered Martinez are UCLA, USC, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Auburn.

"John is pretty open regarding colleges," Thomas said. "He is very intrigued by the SEC because of the caliber of play."

It has been very busy with a steady flow of college recruiters to the Cottonwood campus and by the looks of things, it is going to continue to be very busy.

"Ohio State has been by the school recently and Notre Dame has been by twice," Thomas said. "USC is coming on May 15th to see him.

"(UCLA offensive coordinator) Coach Norm Chow was last week and UCLA's offensive line coach Bob Palcic will be coming in next week," Thomas said. "Miami is coming in today (Thursday May 8th). Miami's offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland will be here this afternoon.

"Florida assistant coach Chuck Heater is on campus on Saturday to watch us practice."

The word started to get out on Martinez because he went on the summer camp circuit and performed well.

"John hit three camps last summer and once again he is scheduling to visit three camps this coming summer," Thomas said. "Nothing is official, but he's thinking about taking come camps in the south and he's thinking of going to USC for at least the one day camp."

Martinez earned first-team all-state and first-team all-region honors as a junior. In the weight room, is current bench is 345, squat is 445 and has recorded a 28-inch vertical.