Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in WR Josiah Martin

Despite logging limited playing time for California in 2024, Martin showed flashes of his potential for the Golden Bears.

Meg Oliphant, KLC fotos

Oklahoma is starting over on offense in 2025, and the Sooners have some holes to plug on defense and special teams as well.

So Brent Venables and the OU staff landed another impactful haul out of the NCAA Transfer Portal for 2025 — 14 players so far, with the possibility of more still to come.

This series continues Sooners On SI’s inside look at what OU is getting out of the portal for next season. Next up: wide receiver Josiah Martin.

---

Josiah Martin showed promise in his first season playing at the Power Four level, and now he’s coming to Norman.

Martin, a true freshman at California in 2024, signed with the Sooners during the winter transfer portal window. 

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound wide receiver didn’t see too much action in 2024, his freshman season, but did show flashes of potential.

Martin played in nine games for the Golden Bears, recording 78 snaps lined up in the slot, 55 at outside wide receiver and three in the backfield, according to Pro Football Focus. He ended the year with 112 receiving yards on 12 catches.

Martin finished the 2024 season with a respectable 65.8 offensive grade from PFF, which grades players based on their effectiveness in the passing game, running game and blocking.

Even with modest playing time, Martin impressed Joaquin Ruiz, the Golden Bears reporter for The Daily Californian, Cal’s student newspaper.

“I thought Martin’s willingness to get physical, whether as a running back or blocker, was impressive for a freshman who saw limited snaps,” Ruiz said. “He doesn’t mind getting dirty nor does he give defenses a play off.”

Martin’s biggest game came in his last one for the Golden Bears.

In Cal’s bowl game — the LA Bowl against UNLV — Martin scored his first career touchdown on a 29-yard run. He also caught four passes for 40 yards as the Golden Bears fell 24-13. Martin finished that game with a 67.5 PFF offensive grade, his highest of the season.

“Martin’s speed, versatility and big-play ability in space had Golden Bears fans excited,” Ruiz said. “Martin’s LA Bowl tape alone shows how he has been waiting for an opportunity.”

The LA Bowl showed that Martin’s role would’ve increased for the Golden Bears in upcoming seasons, but instead, the wideout opted to enter the portal one day after the game.

After playing at Guyer High School in Denton, TX, Martin chose California over offers from Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and others. He was a 3-star prospect per 247 Sports and the No. 122 wide receiver in the Class of 2024.

Martin’s original college pick made Ruiz and others believe that his time in Berkeley would last longer.

“It proved that he was serious about the Bears,” Ruiz said. “It was definitely surprising when he left, especially one day after flourishing in Inglewood.”

Ruiz said Cal’s current wide receiver situation may have played into Martin’s decision. He said that two Golden Bears who missed significant time in 2024 — Tobias Merriweather and Kyion Graves — likely would have gotten more reps than Martin.

“Understandably, Martin might have felt there would be too many cooks in the kitchen,” Ruiz said. “Martin likely would’ve had a larger role had he stayed in Berkeley, but he also probably expected some of his older teammates to enter the NFL Draft or transfer portal when initially committing.”

Norman is also far closer to home than Berkeley, just around a 2 1/2-hour drive from OU’s campus to the Metroplex.

“(It) surely was at the back of his mind when transferring to Oklahoma,” Ruiz said.

Martin’s addition is one the Sooners needed.

---

MORE TRANSFER TALK

Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in Transfer TE Carson Kent
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in Transfer Kicker Austin Welch
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in Transfer WR Isaiah Sategna
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in TE Will Huggins
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in WR Javonnie Gibson
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in LB Kendal Daniels
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in Punter Jacob Ulrich
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in QB John Mateer
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in DE Marvin Jones Jr.
Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in WR Keontez Lewis

OU finished the 2024 season averaging 167.1 passing yards per game, which was ranked 121st out of 133 FBS programs. Tight end Bauer Sharp, who transferred to LSU, led OU in receiving yards with 324.

The Sooners lost several targets in addition to Sharp in the transfer portal. Wideouts Jaquaize Pettaway, Nic Anderson, Andrel Anthony, J.J. Hester, Brenen Thompson and Jalil Farooq all transferred during the portal’s winter window, which ran from Dec. 9 to Dec. 28. All of them have signed with new programs.

Martin is one of four wide receivers to transfer to Oklahoma this offseason, along with Isaiah Sategna (Arkansas), Keontez Lewis (Southern Illinois) and Javonnie Gibson (Arkansas Pine-Bluff). The Sooners also added help to their passing game at the tight end position in the portal, picking up Carson Kent (Kennesaw State), Will Huggins (Pittsburg State) and John Locke III (Louisiana Tech).

Returners to OU’s receiver room from 2024 include Deion Burks, Jacob Jordan, Zion Kearney, Zion Ragins and Ivan Carreon. 

Sooners On SI Transfer Portal Tracker

Martin joins an OU offense under new management.

The Sooners hired Ben Arbuckle as their new offensive coordinator in December, and in just a few years as a college coach, Arbuckle has become a fast-rising coordinator.

He landed his first offensive coordinator job in 2022 at Western Kentucky. Arbuckle helped lead the nation’s No. 1 passing offense (433.7 passing yards per game) with eventual NFL quarterback Bailey Zappe. 

After a stellar first year as a coordinator, Arbuckle went to Washington State, spending two seasons in Pullman. 

In 2023, Arbuckle worked with Cam Ward — who later transferred to Miami (FL) and was a 2024 Heisman finalist — and produced a passing offense that was fourth nationally with 336.8 yards per game.

OU Basketball: Oklahoma Outmatched as Sooners Fall 70-52 to No. 4 Tennessee

A year later, Arbuckle ran an offense with John Mateer, who transferred to Oklahoma in December. The Cougars finished 2024 with 30 passing touchdowns, which was sixth in the nation. Mateer will replace Jackson Arnold, who started nine games for OU in 2024 and transferred to Auburn after the season.

After such a disappointing offensive season for the Sooners in 2024, they have an almost entirely new unit. Between Arbuckle, Mateer and the new crop of wideouts, the personnel is different in just about every way.

And Ruiz believes that Martin will shine in OU’s new-look system.

“I’d imagine he is feeling pretty confident heading into his first season as a Sooner,” Ruiz said.

feed