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The state’s top-rated senior-to-be in staying in Pennsylvania.
Penn State scored a major recruiting victory as WPIAL star Quinton Martin publicly committed to the Nittany Lions on Friday, giving them their biggest addition to their 2024 recruiting class.
“1000% COMMITTED!” Martin posted on social media long with a graphic of him in a Penn State jersey.
Martin is the unanimous pick as the top prospect in the Keystone State for the current cycle, rated No. 1 overall by On3, 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN. All four services rate him as a top 100 overall recruit in the nation, regardless of position.
And position is perhaps the most intriguing factor for Martin.
Martin is primarily a running back at Belle Vernon High School, where he racked up 1,700 total yards and 28 total touchdowns as a junior in 2022. But recruiting services list him as an athlete, and his versatility could lead to him getting looks at multiple spots in Happy Valley — on offense and defense.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Martin is a four-star prospect who is ranked just outside the five-star threshhold by ESPN as the country’s No. 27 overall recruit for 2024.
The On3 Industry Ranking, which factors in ratings from all four major services, places Martin as the No. 41 overall recruit in the nation and the No. 3 prospect with the “athlete” label nationally.
Martin, who has taken in multiple Penn State home games and visited campus recently, chose the Lions over a few dozen scholarship offers including Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Pitt, Florida State, Texas, Miami, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
He is Penn State’s first top-100 overall recruit of the 2024 class and the second major commitment for the Lions in as many weeks, following a pledge from four-star Jacksonville cornerback Jon Mitchell last weekend.
Assuming Martin signs with Penn State in December, it will mark the third straight cycle that the Lions have landed Pennsylvania’s top-rated recruit, following offensive lineman Jven Williams (2023) and running back Nick Singleton (2022).
Martin is the seventh member of the Lions’ 2024 class and the fourth from Pennsylvania, joining (Erie) McDowell offensive lineman Cooper Cousins, (Pittsburgh) Central Catholic linebacker Anthony Speca and (Philadelphia) Imhotep cornerback Kenny Woseley.
Rounding out the class so far are Mitchell, Michigan linebacker Kari Jackson and Massachusetts tight end Luke Reynolds.
The Lions have also gotten a jump start on the 2025 class with pledges from a pair of rising New Jersey juniors in offensive lineman Jaelyne Matthews and cornerback Omari Gaines.
Penn State’s recent success on the recruiting trail could be taken as a positive sign for the school’s progress in the NIL landscape. Name, image and likeness revenue for players has been in the spotlight recently at the university as separate collectives have publicly disagreed on the route to take in the wake of basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry leaving Penn State to take the Notre Dame job.
Former football captains Michael Mauti and Brandon Short have publicly spoken out against a collective championed by former assistant coach Jay Paterno.
Mauti is a founding member of the football exclusive Lions Legacy Club. Paterno helped organize the all-sports collective Success With Honor. Short and Paterno are both alumni members of Penn State’s board of trustees.