[1][2] He attended Northridge High School in Tuscaloosa but was not a highly-recruited prospect, not even placing on 247Sports' player rankings.
[5] In 2019, he placed seventh on the team with 43 tackles while starting all 11 matches, additionally making 4.5 tackles-for-loss and two sacks.
[5] He transferred to Western Kentucky (WKU) in 2021, and finished his stint at North Alabama having appeared in all of their 25 games from 2018 to 2020, posting 81 total tackles (of which, 44 were assists and 37 solo), nine tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and four pass deflections.
[6] He helped them win the division championship, and his best game came in the conference title match against UTSA, in which he made seven tackles and a half-sack.
[2] Martin started all 14 games for Western Kentucky in 2022, and was named honorable mention all-conference after tallying 31 tackles, 1.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.