Notre Dame Football Recruiting: In The Hunt For All-American Receiver, Oliver Martin

The quiet, clean-cut kid from Iowa City attended The Nike Opening Regionals, where he won the MVP for Wide Receivers, as a relatively unknown recruit. From there he made his way to The Opening in Beaverton, Oregon- an elite, invite-only football camp/combine attended by 150 of the nations top recruits hosted by Rivals. By the end of the camp he had posted the highest SPARQ score (a score tallied by averaging strength/speed/agility drills), was praised by All-American Christian McCaffrey (who stated Martin was “the best Wide Receiver by far,”) and Steve Wiltfong, recruiting analyst for 247. Wiltfong reported: “He was eating up high-profile defensive backs and catching everything.”

Two weeks later Martin went from having only attracted mild attention to holding 15 scholarship offers. Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, BYU, Vanderbilt and many others were looking for a commitment from the 6’1, 185 pound athlete.

Twitter @ICWestFB

Martin is a true athlete. He’s been offered full baseball scholarships to Iowa and Illinois, he was a big reason why his high school swim team won the Iowa State Championship in ‘16. On top of that, his West High School football team he captain’d won the Iowa State Championship.

Impressive.

Oliver Martin has an athletic resume and GPA of a champion. As the dead period in recruiting has just come to an end, it’s been said by his father, Jeff Martin, that Auburn, Florida and Ohio State have been showing serious interest. Martin visited Iowa on Dec. 3, Notre Dame Dec. 9 (at “The Echoes” year-end banquet) and he is set to visit Michigan State on Dec. 13. He will have two visits remaining.

Twitter @TomLoy247

The first morning after the recruiting dead-period ended, Notre Dame didn’t waste any time. New Offensive Coordinator Chip Long and long time Notre Dame staffer Bob Elliot, hit the road and dropped in on the Martin family for breakfast. Some interesting notes about Elliot is that he also attended West High school, the school Oliver attends, and won a State Championship there as well. Elliot's father was also the Athletic Director at Iowa and there's a street in Iowa City named after him. Jeff Martin mentioned that they really enjoyed Coach Long and think that he was a solid addition to the Notre Dame staff.

Between now and Signing Day Oliver Martin will be receiving loads of attention from all over the country. Due to his quiet nature, there's no telling where he will choose. Speculation among recruiting analysts results in a “toss-up.” Fans from Notre Dame, Michigan State and Iowa all like their chances.

This will be an interesting recruitment to follow during this sprint to national signing day. Notre Dame has put itself in the best position possible and currently hold only one receiver commitment, and it's from Michael Young who plays in the slot. If Martin chooses the Irish, I see him at the X position. Considering depth at the X is thin (Stepherson, McKinley) I could certainly see Martin seeing the field in ‘17.

Hopefully that will help sway him to head to South Bend, Indiana in the end.