The ISU women’s basketball team announced its 2009 recruiting class Wednesday, inking four players for next season.

Three of those players are post players, which could be very important after the departure of this season’s senior class. There are five seniors on the 2008-09 roster and four of those players are post players.

“This class is very important because of what we are losing,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “It’s going to fill some immediate needs. We have a group of people that are very talented and a group of people that could have a major impact here.”

One of those players is Amanda Zimmerman, a former high school teammate of guard Alison Lacey. Zimmerman played at Ballard High School, which is approximately 10 miles from Ames. Lacey played her senior season at Ballard as a foreign exchange student.

“You want to have an impact locally, it brings a lot of attention to our team and she is someone that a lot of our fans have already been following because she committed to us so long ago,” Fennelly said. “It’s nice that it’s finally here. We’ve never been able to talk about it even though everybody in the world knew she was coming.”

A look at each of the four players in the class:

Chelsea Poppens, 6’2” forward/center, Aplington-Parkersburg High School

Poppens is just 12 points from the 1,000-point mark in her three prep seasons. She averaged 16.6 points per game as a sophomore and 12.5 rebounds per game as a junior. Poppens was named second team all-state last season and third team the season before. Poppens is also an all-state performer in volleyball and will be in the Iowa State Tournament this weekend.

Anna Prins, 6’6” center, Broomfield, Colo.

Prins has led Broomfield High School to consecutive Colorado Class 4A state championships, losing only four games in her prep career and posting 886 career points. Prins was named first team all-state and Class 4A Miss Basketball last season after being an honorable mention pick her first two seasons.

Jessica Schroll, 5’11” guard, Midland Dow, Mich.

Schroll started every game as a freshman and sophomore for H. H. Dow High School before missing last season because of injury. She was named honorable mention all-state by the Detroit Free Press in 2007, after averaging 13.7 points and 2.8 steals per game.

Amanda Zimmerman, 6’1” forward, Ballard High School, Huxley

Zimmerman has compiled 1,452 points in her first three seasons for Ballard. Zimmerman and current Cyclone Lacey teamed up in 2005-2006 to lead Ballard to a state runner-up finish. Zimmerman has led the Bombers to state semifinals the last two seasons. She was named all-state and 3A Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008.