Martin picks up another big offer

When coach Rick Neuheisel called Marcus Martin on Tuesday he missed it but the Los Angeles Crenshaw offensive lineman returned the call later on and Martin is happy he did because the UCLA coach told him he has an offer from the Bruins.

"It's big," Martin said. "It's a great opportunity. I'm fortunate. I saw an e-mail from coach Neuheisel about two weeks ago and it said to give him a call anytime and then last week UCLA came to the school.

"I talked to coach Todd Howard and he told me how excited he was to see me in person and he wanted to see me this season and hear about me working out and at the (Los Angeles) NIKE Camp and hearing about me from different people he was fired up and told me to come to camp."

The UCLA offer is big for many reasons: Martin might want to stay closer to home to play college football and this gives him that opportunity; he's close friends with former Crenshaw and UCLA standout Brian Price; and Crenshaw teammate De'Anthony Thomas stated recently he's probably going to stay close to home for college - with USC, UCLA and Cal as three of his early favorites.

There is now a lot for Martin, a 6-foot-3, 357-pound prospect, to consider.

"That's cool because I know my people - my parents and my aunts and my brothers - don't really mind where I go to college if I go out of state or if I stay here, they'll be on the bandwagon wherever I go," Martin said.

His other option at this point is playing at Washington, which also offered in the last few weeks. One of the things Martin said stand out about the Huskies is their coaching staff, something many recruits have said recently.

Arizona, USC, Florida, Oregon, Cal, Nebraska and Michigan are some other programs showing interest at this point.

Martin said he does not plan to commit soon and now he has some options whether it's playing close to home with UCLA or venturing out of state to play at Washington. The way things have been going for him more options might become available soon.

"Being able to stay home would be really great but I have another opportunity to go out and play at Washington and that's another big thing as well," Martin said. "I don't plan to commit soon."