TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

I realize the landscape around here has been a little barren in the past week or so, but I assure you that has more to do with our blog transition and the business of covering National Signing Day than with any plan on my part to hold back content.

Let's get back into the swing of things with a look back at Wednesday, which was the first day football players -- and those from various other sports -- in the class of 2011 could sign letters of intent to accept college scholarships.

We'll get to football in a moment, but really, all of the football players in town had declared where they were headed previously, so signing day was zapped of a lot of drama.

That wasn't the case for Stockdale's standout discus thrower and all-around special athlete, Alex Collatz. You might know her as a four-event wunderkind, a state discus champion (and national leader in the event) or as a volleyball player who tore her ACL and meniscus in her knee last fall.

What you can call Collatz now is a USC Trojan. She unveiled that she'd call Southern Cal home -- over close second choice UCLA -- at a private party her parents hosted at 4200 Pizzeria on Wednesday evening.

A lot of the emotion there was relief that Collatz had found a college home, and a good one, despite that devastating knee injury.

"I thought I might have ruined my chances for college," Collatz said. "I didn't know what they would think, if they would have faith in me for if they would think I was done. I feel very blessed."

Collatz joins Liberty pole vaulter Andrew Ramay in the Pac-12 Conference. Ramay signed to vault for Cal.

I've put a complete list of local Division I signees, including a few who signed after heading to Bakersfield College for a couple of years, but let's zero in on football for a minute.

As of this moment, 11 of Kern County's high school footblal seniors are headed to a Division I college, with Centennial center Alex Trujillo wrapping up the class with a scholarship to Division II Fort Lewis State in Durango, Colo.

Trujillo had some other opportunities -- he said Sacramento State and a couple of other Football Championship Subdivision schools werre interested -- but ultimately was drawn by Ft. Lewis' academics and Durango's beauty (of which I can attest).

As for the others:

* You might have heard of a guy named Cody Kessler, the Centennial quarterback and four-star recruit who chose USC over a host of other nationally prominent schools during a news conference last summer. Kessler enrolled early at SC but did return for a signing-day visit with friends and his three Centennial teammates who also signed.

"I didn't want to miss this experience," he said.

* He sat to Kessler's left Wednesday, but Centennial linebacker Jared Norris has been the quarterback's right-hand man through much of this process, the ying to Kessler's yang and the defensive star of the 10-2 Golden Hawks. Even before Kessler became a Trojan, Norris had committed to Utah -- which just so happens to open its first Pac-12 season with a visit to the Trojans at the Coliseum.

"I've been committed for a long time, but this makes it official," Norris said. "It took me four or five minutes to sign that thing, one page, just because it was such a big deal. I'll never forget it."

* We'll finish the Centennial portion of this tour before we move on by getting to Shawn Johnson. You've probably heard Johnson's story by now: A good kid with a hard-luck upbringing, he was taken in by the Kesslers a couple of years ago. He emerged as an absolute star as Centennial's running back and primary kick returner and suddenly found himself with a couple of scholarship offers. He'll ply his trade for Montana State next.

* Slipping in the back door at the Centennial ceremony was one of Kessler's and Norris's good friends, Stockdale linebacker Hank Hobson. He signed earlier in the day for another Pac-12 school, Arizona. Hobson's dad, Butch, was a Red Sox infielder and manager and older brother K.C. plays in the Blue Jays organization, but Hank said he won't think twice about choosing the gridiron: He's not even playing baseball for Stockdale this spring.

* Kern County's other All-American, the one not named Kessler, was Stockdale kicker/punter Andre Heidari. He's rooming with Kessler at USC, but he also was back in town for signing day festivities.

* My impression in three years in Bakersfield is that this is a UCLA town first, but the Trojans dominated Signing Day 2011. Liberty two-way lineman Cody Temple was the fourth USC signee of the day. He's a 300-pounder who caught recruiters' eyes on defense as far back as his sophomore season -- he literally was in the backfield on every play, at least in my memory -- but it was a series of impressive performances on offense as recruiting camps this summer that caught USC's eye in the end.

* Temple's linemate, Doug Blacksill, caught on at some of those camps too, and it earned him a scholarship to San Jose State. He's the not the only local there, either.

* That's because Bakersfield High's Mercy Maston, a physical safety, chose the Spartans after initially giving Arizona State a verbal commitment. There might be a risk for SJSU that Maston doesn't qualify academically, but if he does, that's a steal for the WAC school.

* In the same boat is Ridgeview linebacker Kyrie Wilson, who verbally committed to Oregon back in the fall and then watched the Ducks come within a field goal of overtime in the national championship game -- and then tell him they couldn't honor his scholarship. There's academic risk here, too, but Wilson found a familiar landing spot for Kern County players: Fresno State.

"It was kind of shocking," Wilson said. "But everything happens for a reason, and I'm happy with the choice I made."

* Like quite a few of these guys, Wilson will get a chance to play against a former teammate in Ridgeview defensive back Bryson Keeton, who signed with Nevada.

Both schools are in the WAC and join the Mountain West Conference in 2012.

"There's a game we're going to," Ridgeview coach Dennis Manning said. "I really believe both schools stole these kid. They'll come in as impact players."

* The 11th Division I player also will take his game to the Mountain West: It's West defensive back Fred Wilson, who will play at UNLV. The Vikings will hold Wilson's signing party on Tuesday.

FOOTBALL

Athlete High school Position College

Mario Abundes BC (Delano) OL SE Missouri St

Doug Blacksill Liberty OL San Jose State

David Born BC (West) OL Old Dominion

Bryson Keeton Ridgeview DB Nevada

Cody Kessler Centennial QB USC*

Andre Heidari Stockdale K/P USC*

Hank Hobson Stockdale LB Arizona

Curtis Huge BC (Stockdale) P Central Michigan

Shawn Johnson Centennial RB Montana State

Mercy Maston Bakersfield DB San Jose State

Jared Norris Centennial LB Utah

Cody Temple Liberty OL/DL USC

Tyler Thompson Shafter DB Nevada

Fred Wilson West DB UNLV

Kyrie Wilson Ridgeview LB Fresno State

* -- enrolled early

OTHER SPORTS

Athlete High school Sport College

Jordanne Barr Frontier women's golf San Jose State^

Timmy Box Bakersfield wrestling CSUB^

Ashley Carter Tehachapi softball CSUB^

Alex Collatz Stockdale women's track and field USC

Carissa Cruz Centennial women's water polo CSUB

Julio Cruz Golden Valley men's soccer CSUB

Adam Fierro Bakersfield wrestling CSUB^

Alyssa Gammel Centennial volleyball Virginia Tech^

Bryce Hammond Bakersfield wrestling CSUB^

Ellie Hight Liberty women's soccer Southeast Missouri St

Bryce Keene Stockdale men's golf Navy^

Brenna Moss North softball Fresno State^

Ian Nickell Bakersfield wrestling CSUB^

Andrew Ramay Liberty men's track and field Cal

Jose Tirado Golden Valley men's soccer CSUB

Justine Vela Stockdale softball UC Davis^

^ -- signed during November's early signing period