West High's Oliver Martin rockets up national recruiting charts

The fastest-rising prospect in college football resides in Iowa City.

Oliver Martin is about to enter his senior year at West High as a top recruit in Iowa and one of the best receivers in the nation. His ascent is a culmination of the last two months, when Martin went from barely-known to can’t-miss.

Performances at multiple camps this summer — including most recently at The Opening Finals in Eugene, Ore. — have catapulted Martin to the front of the line for numerous schools, notably Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wisconsin. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder holds offers from more than 10 universities.

Much has unfolded in a short period of time. Martin wasn’t offered by any Power 5 teams until Wisconsin and Minnesota called in mid-June. The flurry then began, and it's still going. He's already made unofficial visits at “recruiting barbecues” at Iowa and Wisconsin and will do the same at Minnesota and Michigan later this summer.

“I think the colleges just didn’t know about me,” Martin said Thursday. “The biggest thing was getting in front of them. Going to camps and performing well is what really got the offers to happen.”

Martin, who also plays baseball and swims at West, returned this week from The Opening, a six-day camp featuring more than 160 of the nation’s top prospects. Based on his speed and agility times alone, he ranked 12th overall.

Then, he stepped onto the field.

“At The Opening, he was eating up high-profile defensive backs and catching everything,” said 247Sports recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong, who was on-site. “He quickly gained the respect of all his peers there. Quite frankly, when he got off that plane in Oregon, I bet if you polled the other 165 players that were there, they wouldn’t have known who Oliver Martin was. When they left, they knew who he was and knew he stacked up.”

That process has been a recurring theme, with The Opening resulting in something of a breakout event. Now, no one will be surprised at what happens next as Martin continues to sprout.

For example, 247Sports currently rates Martin as the 87th-best receiver and fifth-best player in Iowa, but improvements on those numbers are safe bets.

“When you take the time to learn about Oliver, it’s a long time coming that he has these offers,” Wiltfong said. “It shouldn’t have taken this long. We have him ranked low, and he had hardly any scholarship offers two months ago, and nothing’s really changed with Oliver. He’s always been fast and productive and athletic.

“Sometimes this happens, but fortunately for Oliver, it’s rectified now. Some guys that are capable of playing at the highest level never get these offers. You see that happen less and less now, but Oliver went under-the-radar and he’s clearly one of the best receivers in the country. He can go toe-to-toe with anyone in America.”

These developments aren’t necessarily a surprise to those in the Iowa City area. Not as big of one, at least.

Martin made 73 receptions for 1,187 yards and 14 touchdowns for West in 2015, setting single-season records in all three categories. Additionally, Martin holds the school record for career receptions and career touchdowns with a year left to play.

“This is going to sound crazy, but I always knew he was an elite receiver,” West coach Garrett Hartwig said. “This hasn’t surprised me at all, the way he’s opened the eyes of people. His work in the weight room has always been exceptional. His work outside of the football program on his own time is unparalleled — and that’s for all three sports he’s in. It’s not a surprise that schools are saying ‘Wow, he can do that.’ We’ve known he could do that. He’s done all sorts of things at West High for three years.”

Football isn’t the only Division-I sport Martin could play in college.

Martin noted Thursday he is “thinking of committing before the end of the summer” — West’s first football game of the 2016 campaign is Aug. 26 — and is also a formidable recruit in baseball. He holds offers from Iowa and Illinois.

“I like baseball just as much as football,” Martin said. “That’s also a decision I would have to make. I think I would try and decide which football school I’d want to go to, and if I wanted to do baseball, maybe decide which baseball school I’d want to go to, and then decide between football and baseball. I’m leaning towards football right now, but not 100 percent sure.”

Humble in nature, Martin isn’t alone in the decision-making process. He will talk to his parents, Jeff and Lisa, about the timetable for a decision soon — the family has been busy this summer, too, with Oliver’s sister, Ruby, swimming at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month. Martin smiled when he said that Ruby “is going to have an easier decision” when she eventually commits to a school for swimming.

But primarily, it will be about making sure he is informed and ready before picking up the phone.

“I got my offers kind of all at once, so I’m a little scatter-brained about it,” Martin said. “They are all great schools, and whichever I choose will be a great place to go, but I want to learn a little bit more about them before making a decision.”