Local athletes ready to put future in writing on signing day
| Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 06:46 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 08:25 PM
National signing day
Local athletes signing letters of intent this week
NameSchoolCollegeSport
Crissy CunninghamLibertyHumboldt Stvolleyball
Tyler Dogins-xBC (Ridgeview)Northern Coloradofootball
Shannon EdwardsRidgeviewFresno Statefootball
Taiyon Jackson-xBC (West)Midwestern Statefootball
Fallon KellerLibertyBiolasoccer
Michael MartensCentennialAzusa Pacificfootball
Cameron MillerStockdaleStanfordtrack/XC
Kaylee MoyerNorthCSUBtrack/XC
Silas NacitaBakersfieldCornellfootball
B.J. NardFrontierCal Polyfootball
Wesley Nichols-xL.A. Harbor (Stockdale)Morgan Statefootball
Kyle NixonFrontierCSUBbaseball
Mackenzie TaylorLibertyMasterssoccer
x -- junior-college athletes typically sign letters of intent before signing day
Note: If any athletes signing in this period are missing from this list, please contact reporter Zach Ewing at zewing@bakersfield.com.
Bakersfield's first football recruiting drama since Cody Kessler put on a USC hat two summers ago leads right into today's National Signing Day.
It's a national holiday for college football junkies and a day that changes the life for high school athletes everywhere.
For Ridgeview senior Shannon Edwards, it'll be the end of a strange recruiting process.
Edwards is expected to sign with Fresno State at 12:30 p.m. today at Ridgeview. A month ago, he was ready to honor his long-standing verbal commitment to UCLA, to which he pledged last June.
"Once it got out that he de-committed, the UCLA (online) message boards just exploded," said Edwards' mother, Denise. "It was all, 'Oh, Shannon's been committed since June, and he's our favorite Bruin.'"
But when UCLA fired coach Rick Neuheisel and hired Jim Mora, the Bruins asked Edwards, a defensive back given a three-star rating by Rivals.com, if he would grayshirt -- wait until the spring to enroll to preserve an extra year of eligibility and an extra scholarship.
Recruits often are asked to grayshirt so they can work on academics, but Denise Edwards said that wasn't the case with her son.
"We already had the letter of intent; he had already been accepted," she said. "But they were pressuring him to grayshirt: 'What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?'"
Edwards balked, de-committed from UCLA and contacted Mark Nichols, a Bakersfield native who played for San Jose State and in the NFL for six seasons. Nichols helped drum up interest for Edwards at other schools.
He decided to join new coach Tim DeRuyter at Fresno State, where he'll join eight Bakersfield natives already on the roster, including former Ridgeview teammate Kyrie Wilson.
"He's Fresno State all the way now," Denise Edwards said.
Several local athletes will join Edwards today in signing letters of intent, including two other Division I football players -- a number much smaller than last year's 10, which included All-Americans Kessler and Andre Heidari to USC.
Today, Frontier defensive back B.J. Nard will ink with Cal Poly, and Bakersfield running back/defensive back with Cornell. Centennial wide receiver Michael Martens will sign with Azusa Pacific, an NAIA school.
Several locals who played at junior colleges also are on their way to four-year schools, including Tyler Dogins (Northern Colorado) and Taiyon Jackson (Midwestern (Texas) State) of Bakersfield College and Wesley Nichols, Mark's son, who will go from L.A. Harbor College to Morgan State, a Division I school in Baltimore.
"He played mostly fullback at Harbor, but they want him to play running back," Mark Nichols said. "They came down to L.A., offered him a trip, he took the trip around Christmas and signed the letter of intent."
Also signing this week are a number of standout high school athletes from other sports, including: Stockdale distance runner Cameron Miller with Stanford, Frontier baseball player Kyle Nixon with Cal State Bakersfield and North distance runner Kaylee Moyer with CSUB.
