White Castle High School four-sport standout and future senior Ronald Martin made a verbal commitment to take a football scholarship with LSU when the opportunity was offered to him Monday by Tiger grid Coach Les Miles.
If the Bulldog standout signs with the Tigers, he will become the first to do so in the sport of football since former St. John High lineman Mark Gilbert did so back in the late 1970s. A year before Gilbert signed, former Plaquemine High footballer Demetri Williams signed with LSU. Prior to that time period, Charlie Moore of PHS signed with LSU and played defensive back during the late 1950s. The last Iberville Parish high school athlete to sign with LSU was North Iberville High track sprinter Derrick Thymes in the early 1990s.
In recent years, standouts Randall “Blue” Gay and Norman LeJeune of neighboring Brusly High School signed and played for LSU’s 2003 national championship team. Jarvis Green of neighboring Donaldsonville High also signed and played football at LSU. All three went on to professional football careers. Gay was a member of last year’s NFL champion New Orleans Saints team. One of his Saints’ teammates was Tracy Porter, a former Port Allen High and Indiana University standout.
Martin, a solid 6-2, 190-lb. prep athlete, lettered in football, basketball, track, and baseball thus far in his WCHS sports career.
He is a two-time Class 1-A All-State defensive back. As a sophomore he led the state in pass interceptions with a dozen. Last year he played both defensive free safety and quarterback for Coach Ferrante Dominique’s Bulldogs. He pulled in nine pass interceptions, had 58 tackles, and broke up 15 passes on defense last year. Offensively, he accounted for more than 2,500 yards of total offense and had a hand in 20 Bulldog touchdowns. Martin helped lead the Castlemen to a state playoff berth two consecutive years. Last year the Bulldogs reached the 1-A state regional playoff round before losing in a high-scoring contest to eventual state champion Haynesville High. Martin passed, ran, and received in the playoff loss to guide his club to over 40 points in the loss.
Early in the 20010 portion of the school year, Martin led his Bulldog basketball team to the state playoffs and runner-up honors in the District 8-A, averaging close to 20 points a game. He notched a second all-state first-team honor of the school year for his hoops effort.
