He is going to school there but he's much worse than a homer. How you described your local media is exactly how I view JM.
Martin actually has some good info on recruits, he puts in the leg work to get to know them. Heck, he broke the Austin Nichols to Memphis story, so he deserves a little credit...our beat writer, Quinn, is a puppet of the university and the only info he has is what's given to him from the school.