Nick Martin Labeled and Proud to Be "Old School"

STILLWATER – There is no doubt that one of the top Oklahoma State signees in the 2021 recruiting class is Nick Martin out of Pleasant Grove High School in the Texarkana region of Texas. Most recruiting sites had him as a four-star and if they didn’t they were wrong. Ask his high school head coach Josh Gibson at Pleasant Grove.

This past season the speedy and strong Martin did double duty. At running back, he carried 115 times for 800-yards and 15 touchdowns. He had a whopping 7.0-yard per carry average. On defense he led the Hawks in tackles for loss with 24 and sacks with 10. He totaled 97 tackles with 69 of those unassisted.

Martin emerged as a sophomore earning Defensive Newcomer of the Year honors in District 6-4A-1 with 128 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. He missed most of the 2019 season and the Pleasant Grove playoff run with a knee injury. That same knee injury may have stunted his recruiting attention, but it picked up big this season.

In his Zoom conference on signing day, Mike Gundy was asked by our own Marshall Levenson what the Cowboys saw in Martin and it didn’t take much to get Gundy revved up on the subject of Nick Martin and relaying his first phone conversation with Martin in recruiting.

“First time I talked to Nick, I said, 'Nick, you know why I like you? Cause you're old school. You like to play football, you like to hit.’”

Checking up on Gundy, getting to the truth I asked Martin if Gundy really said that?

“Literally, that is what he said,” Martin relayed. “He said the way you play football, you’re like an old school football player that loves to hit.”

TexAgs

Martin in action this past season.

It is obvious that Martin took it as a compliment and he should have.

“They're going to play him everywhere because he's very athletic,” Gundy added on the plan with Martin. “We're going to bring him in and put 20 pounds on him. He can run, he's athletic, he's very tough, he likes to play football and he's a good young man. He's a perfect fit for us here at Oklahoma State. But he's old school. He'll strike you and he's not scared."

“That is fine with me playing defense (no more running back), Martin told us. “I love playing defense because that is where you hit more and that is what I love to do.”