FBI Reportedly was Difference in Stanford Losing Recruit to BYU

Running back LJ Martin's parent's co-worker in the FBI made his BYU pitch after he de-committed from the Stanford Cardinal.

In November, running back LJ Martin de-committed from Stanford. After the announcement, a co-worker of Martin's parents, John and Genevieve, who works for the FBI in El Paso, tried to convince Martin to lean towards BYU as explained in a recent report by DesertNews.

“He asked my mom if her son would want to go to BYU,” Martin said. “I don’t know how it all happened, but he had to be connected somehow. When BYU reached out a few hours later, their co-worker said, ‘You have to go! You just have gotta go!’ So, my dad said, ‘All right, we’ll give it a chance.”

After visiting, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake was the real reason Martin decided to join the Cougar roster.

"Just waking up and praying every day and thanking God for the day he has given me,” Martin said. “Thanking him for the opportunities he has given me and just being grateful in that way and knowing that he has a plan for me and just trusting him throughout it all.”

This past August, Martin, a freshman, was named a starter before Week 3 of the season versus Arkansas. Hinickley Ropati and Aiden Robbins suffered from injuries so Martin stepped up as the lead running back.

During his debut, he rushed for a total of 77 yards and recorded two touchdowns against the Arkansas Razorbacks. His stand-out play was in the first quarter when he had a 45-yard run on a single carry. He now has 86 carries for 345 yards and four touchdowns while averaging four yards per carry.