The #1 ranked Class of 2023 defensive player in the state of Arizona, has officially selected his college destination. Basha High School (Chandler, AZ) 4-Star Rivals100 cornerback Cole Martin, took to the podium on New Years Day in front of family, friends, coaches, and media members, to announce his verbal commitment to the University of Oregon.

"To go out there and really understand that Head Coach (Dan) Lanning, Coach (Kenny) Dillingham, Coach (Adrian) Klemm, and all of the other coaches up there, it's just an amazing combination that I just couldn't pass up," said Martin. "The opportunity to be able to play (for) them was something special to me and something that I didn't want to pass up on."

Martin's father and long-time college football DB's coach, Demetrice Martin, was brought on recently by new Oregon head coach, Dan Lanning, to be the next Duck's cornerback's coach. Cole Martin expressed his excitement and the opportunity to play for his dad in the future.

"He's always been in my corner," said Martin. "He's always been coaching me and always giving me advice...so to be able to play under him and train under him every single day, and really grow with him is going to be awesome. It's going to be something that I can't wait to do."

Martin racked up over 30 Division 1 offers throughout his recruitment and chose the Ducks over PAC-12 opponents USC, UCLA, and ASU. One of the biggest reasons for Martin wanting to commit so early was because he wanted to have the chance to lead and command what could-be a historic 2023 recruiting class for the Ducks. With Martin becoming the first committed member of the Oregon Ducks 2023 recruiting class, Martin will have an opportunity to do just that.

"To build a team and go out on the field, knowing that everyone has the same killer mind-set and everyone wants to go win everything, that was something very important to me," said Martin. "I want to make sure that the team, as a whole, wants to be successful and to go win. Coming in with this whole 2023 class with (a bunch) of hungry dogs, I can't wait to start building."

"Cole Martin is one of the most polished defensive backs in the state of Arizona. Martin possesses great footwork in his man-to-man technique and constantly shows off his physicality pressing WRs, while maintaining inside leverage, off the snap. Martin is a phenomenal tackler, wrapping up and driving his feet through contact on almost every tackle. Martin is also the most dangerous special teams returner in the state. He's a human highlight reel anytime opposing teams make the unfortunate decision to kick or punt to him. This is a smart football player who understands the game. Cole Martin is a tremendous early land for the Oregon Ducks in the 2023 recruiting cycle." - Lead Analyst Cody Cameron