Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Martin’s lost year leads to Colorado
Tyas Martin missed his senior season at Jacksonville, but that didn’t stop the University of Colorado from making him one of its prized targets during the NCAA’s early signing period.
Martin made it official Wednesday afternoon when he signed a national letter of intent with the Buffaloes in front of friends, family, teammates and Jacksonville administrators during a ceremony inside the school’s auditorium.
“I’m very excited about all of this because I’ve come a long way,” he said. “I’ve put in the work, and I feel like I deserve all of it. But none of it would be possible if I didn’t have a lot of people rooting for me and pulling for me.
“It’s really like a dream come true.”
That dream encompassed a few nightmarish moments for the 6- 4, 318- pound defensive tackle, starting with covid-19 slowing down his recruiting process. Then he suffered a freak injury over the summer that cost him his 2020 season.
Martin, who is rated a 3-star prospect and the No. 42 defensive tackle by 247Sports’ composite rankings, originally committed to Virginia Tech in April over Power 5 programs such as Tennessee, Kansas and Virginia. When he announced June 23 he was decommitting from Virginia Tech and reopening his recruitment, the Buffaloes re-entered the picture.
On July 6, Colorado extended an offer to Martin. Eleven days later, he committed.
“It just felt like family there,” he said. “They believe in me, and I believe in them. I feel like I can express myself there every weekend. Coming in and getting a chance to start early, that’s a great situation for me to be in.”
Martin said his connection with Colorado was bridged by an established relationship. Buffaloes’ defensive line coach Chris Wilson, who was Martin’s chief recruiter, is a cousin of Martin’s trainer. That bolstered the team’s chances of landing one of the state’s top recruits.
“He’d send me all kinds of workouts and things to do to help me elevate my game,” Martin said of Wilson. “I felt like he would develop me to be a better player, and that was important to me.”
Those workouts were more beneficial after he underwent surgery for a back injury that occurred while doing squats over the summer.
Martin attacked the recovery process and was walking not long after the procedure. He was a bit down at first because of the situation, but he eventually looked at it as a minor setback.
“I’m healing right, going to therapy every day, walking every day,” said Martin, who’s expected to make a full recovery before he arrives next year in Boulder. “I’m motivated already, but I’m going to stay that way. I’m going to work harder than what I was ever doing before. I’m just excited about it all.”
Jacksonville Coach Maurice Moody, who is in his first year with the Titans, lamented that he didn’t get a chance to coach Martin during the season. He said he realized quickly he had a true Division I player on his roster.
“I finally saw a football player that was bigger than me,” Moody said. “He was humongous, and I was just excited about that opportunity. But what we learned was — and what I talk to my boys all the time about — is adverse situations. We all go through adverse situations, especially in sports.
“Nothing goes exactly as planned, and Tyas learned a lot from that. He came out better on this side of it. He’s going to be a better football player, he’s going to be a better young man, and he’s going to represent us well.”