ASU football’s Cole Martin, DB transfer from Oregon, out for season with hip injury

Arizona State defensive back Cole Martin is done for the remainder of the 2024 season with a hip injury, head coach Kenny Dillingham announced on Wednesday.

The Oregon transfer had been ASU’s backup nickel to Shamari Simmons, and he made four tackles with one pass breakup over the first two games of the season.

“He’s gonna get surgery on a few items that have just been lingering since he got here, it was before he got here,” Dillingham said. “He’s been trying to push through it, he’s a really tough kid. It had just come to a point where we got to get him right.”

Martin, a Basha High School alum who previously attended Hamilton, played all 14 games for the Ducks last season as a true freshman. He racked up 21 tackles, an interception and two passes defensed. The sophomore was a consensus four-star recruit out of Basha and a boost to ASU’s secondary coming in.

Dillingham said freshman Kyan McDonald will be the backup nickel in Martin’s stead — Macen Williams, who entered the year contending for snaps at nickel, retired before Week 1.

“Super smart, super savvy, just where he’s supposed to be,” Dillingham said of McDonald. “He picked the ball off yesterday, last week he had a pick in 7-on-7, just a guy who is around the ball a lot.”

McDonald was a three-star prospect out of O’Dea High School in Seattle.

Simmons has been one of the brightest spots on the defense this season with 18 tackles — three for a loss — and a forced fumble through three games.

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