US Army All-America game chooses Cali QB

Quarterback Cody Kessler (6-2, 212, 4.8) from Bakersfield (Calif.) Centennial is one of the hottest gunslingers in the west. In less than a week, Kessler picked up two huge Pac 10 offers and an invitation to participate in an All-Star game.

"Friday morning I woke up and I went to my coach's room," Kessler said. "We started talking to my dad and (Centennial HS head coach) Coach (Bryan) Nixon just talking about narrowing down schools and stuff.

"(USC quarterback coach) Coach Clay Helton called my head coach (Nixon) and they starting talking and he told to have me call them later when I can," Kessler said. "I gave him a call and he (Helton) offered me on the phone.

"That kind of threw everything off because I thought I was going to narrow down all the colleges," Kessler said. "So now I'm going to have to think about things more.

"Then I was driving to the Elite 11 on Friday and (UCLA offensive coordinator) Norm Chow called for his one phone call and he (Chow) offered me over the phone too," Kessler said. "That made my head spin more so I started thinking a little bit more.

"After all that I arrived at Elite 11 and started throwing then I'm half way through and Bob Johnson (quarterback guru who runs the Elite 11 Camp) and Barry Every (Rivals.com National Recruiting analyst) came up to me and officially offered me a spot on the US Army All-American Bowl," Kessler said. "I accepted that on the spot.

"They want me on the west team," Kessler said. "Bob Johnson will be head coach.

"Then we started talking a little bit more and things started getting crazy," Kessler said. "It has been a great journey."

Kessler has his eyes on a few of the many teams that are recruiting him.

"I'm kind of looking at everything right now," Kessler said. "But the schools that I'm looking really hard and in detail are Alabama, Pittsburgh, Washington, USC and Boise State.

"Those are the schools we have really talked about in detail," Kessler said. "Those are the main schools we are going to go over right now. They are the schools that I know the most about and that's what we are kind of breaking it down to."

Are there anymore camps in Kessler's future?

"Once I commit, I'm done with camps," Kessler said. "The school I'm committed to, I might go to their camp so I can work with their coaches a little bit, but the Elite 11 is pretty much the last camp, I'll do.

Is there a timeframe for Kessler's decision?

"It could be this week, it could be in a month or so," Kessler said. "Just when I know for sure, but I definitely see it pretty soon."

Kessler earned Area Player of the Year, first-team all-state (was the only junior quarterback on the team), and first-team all-league after throwing for 2,195 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games. He missed four games due to a high ankle sprain.