Martin letting recruiting process come to him

With fall camp under way, Arizona Western Community College safety Pat Martin isn't focused on choosing the school he'll play for next season. He's not particularly thrilled to be talking about it, either. He fields questions about his recruitment with short answers and uses no infection in his voice.

He's a man worried about what will unfold on the field this fall. He makes that much clear from the moment he begins to speak, but he sleepwalks through recruiting chitchat anyway, even if he's not happy about it.

New offers? Not yet, he says.

"Arizona State says they're pretty close, and Oklahoma State says they're close," he said.

The hint of exasperation that shows in Martin's voice is to be expected. This is his second time through the process. He committed to Tennessee despite 13 other offers as a four-star prospect out of high school, but the list of potential suitors is significantly shorter this time around.

Martin currently holds scholarship offers from South Alabama, Oregon State, New Mexico, Nevada and Memphis. Other offers will almost certainly roll in as the once-hyped safety plays his senior season at Western Arizona, and he's perfectly happy to let the process unfold over time.

"I'm going to wait until all the way down to signing day," Martin said when asked for a timetable on his decision. It's a choice that seems wise when you consider the schools that seem to be teetering on the verge of offering.

He plans to take visits to both Arkansas and Arizona State during the approaching season and expects both programs to offer him a scholarship in the near future. He says he currently has no favorites, but Arkansas, to which Martin almost committed out of high school, could assume the role of frontrunner should it offer.

"We're trying to get a visit to Arkansas set up, but we haven't done it yet," he said.

Martin is on pace to graduate in December and will likely join the school of his choice before it opens spring practice in 2013.