Ex-WPIAL star impressing Penn State football coaches in first weeks on campus

Spring practice is right around the corner for Penn State football, meaning we’ll soon have our first opportunities to see this year’s newest Nittany Lions hit the field in the Blue and White. One of the most talked about additions for James Franklin in the 2024 recruiting class was four-star athlete Quinton Martin. While he may have shown up on campus in January as an unfinished product, the Belle Veron star has already gone a long way in impressing the Penn State coaches, starting with Chuck Losey. 

Chuck Losey: Quinton Martin is “a locked-in kid”

Belle Vernon running back Quinton Martin was one of the most dominant players on the Pennsylvania high school circuit during his career. The No. 1 player in the state for the 2024 cycle, Martin racked up over 2,400 yards and 38 touchdowns rushing over the last two seasons, while adding 1,100 yards and 17 scores through the air.

Fresh off a second-straight PIAA Class 3A title, Quinton Martin was one of sixteen early enrollees for Penn State football in January. Now two months into his college career, Martin was one of the true freshmen singled out by Nittany Lions strength and conditioning coach Chuck Losey as winter workouts wrapped up last week. 

Losey expressed that he was initially taken aback by how raw Martin’s athletic skills were, but was happy with the progress he made in a short amount of time.

“Quinton is funny because I was a little bit surprised when he first got here at how raw he was,” Losey said. “I thought he was going to be a little more finished, especially with some of the things that we do out on the field. And I’m not knocking his baseline by any means. But the amount that he’s grown since being here in a short amount of time — the six or seven weeks on campus — that’s what I’ve been most impressed with.

“The numbers will come. They’ll be there at the end of the day; probably in year two, year three. He will have elite numbers. But just the short time period improvement that he’s had, I’m really happy with that. He’s a locked-in kid.”

What does James Franklin think of Martin’s skillset?

Quinton Martin may only have a limited role in the backfield for Penn State football in year one, given the talented running back duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen ahead of him. But if Martin is to find a path to playing time as a true freshman, it may come in the passing game. 

“I think what’s unique about both of our running backs this year in this class, both of them were used heavily as wide receivers [in high school],” James Franklin said in December of Martin and Corey Smith, who is set to enroll this summer. “And I think in today’s college football or the NFL, the more ways you can use running backs, the better. 

“I actually think both Quinton and Corey could play wide receiver for us,” Franklin continued. “The guys that we are recruiting really should be recruitable prospects on both sides of the ball. You should be able to make the argument that those guys are able to do it and do it at a high level.”

We will see Quinton Martin and the rest of Penn State’s early enrollees in action for the first time for the annual Blue-White Game on April 13. 

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