AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s basketball team will rely on four highly-touted recruits to help ease the transition next season after five seniors complete their eligibility this spring. ISU head coach Bill Fennelly signed Amanda Zimmerman (Huxley, Iowa), Chelsea Poppens (Aplington, Iowa), Anna Prins (Broomfield, Colo.) and Jessica Schroll ( Midland, Mich. ), to national letters of intent Wednesday.

“We are graduating some key players in the next two years, so our recruiting efforts are critical to our continued success and I feel great about the players we are signing today,” Fennelly said. “They fit positions we need, but most importantly they fit into the environment of our program. They are great kids whose best basketball is ahead of them and they are from outstanding families. I think all four (signees) have a chance to make a major impact at Iowa State both on and off the court. I know our fans will love watching them play for the Cyclones.”

ISU’s early signees have had tremendously successful prep careers to this point. As a group, Zimmerman, Poppens, Prins and Schroll have combined for 244 wins over three seasons of high school basketball. The quartet has a total of 3,820 career points between them going into their senior seasons, despite Schroll missing the entire 2007-08 season and Prins missing part of her freshman campaign with injuries.

Amanda Zimmerman, 6-1, F, Huxley, Iowa (Ballard)

Zimmerman has compiled 1,452 points in three seasons for the Ballard Bombers. She teamed up with current Cyclone Alison Lacey in 2005-06 to help lead Ballard to the Iowa Class 3A state championship game before losing their only game of the season (26-1). In each of the last two seasons, Zimmerman has led Ballard to the state semifinals.

“It is exciting that the day is finally here that we can talk about ‘Z,’” Fennelly said. “She is signing today, but committed to us as a freshman and has been a Cyclone a long time. She is very skilled and being left-handed adds another dimension to her game that we have not had since a kid named Angie Welle, who was one of the best ever at Iowa State, was on our team.”

Zimmerman averaged 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and three blocks per game in her junior campaign. She was named the Mid-Iowa Girls Basketball Player of the Year in 2007 and the Iowa Class 3A Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. Zimmerman has been named to the all-conference and all-district squads in each of the last three seasons and was an Iowa Girls Coaches Association all-state first team member in the last two seasons.

She holds school records for points in a game (33), points in a season (496), field goals in a season (219) and season field-goal percentage (.695), as well single-season blocked shots (86). With a season remaining, Zimmerman already holds the school career records for points (1,452), field goals (636), field-goal attempts (972) and blocked shots (244). She has also competed in golf, softball and track and field.

Chelsea Poppens, 6-2, F/C, Aplington, Iowa (Aplington-Parkersburg)

Poppens is nearing the 1,000-point mark with 988 career points in three prep seasons. She averaged 16.6 points per game as a sophomore and 12.5 rebounds per contest as a junior. She holds the Aplington-Parkersburg school record for single-game rebounds (20) and blocked shots (12).

 “‘Pop’ is an explosive athlete,” Fennelly said. “She had excelled at not just basketball, but volleyball and soccer as well. Her motor is always running and she plays hard every possession. Her versatility will allow us to use her in many different ways at both ends of the floor.”

The 6-2 forward/center was named to the Iowa all-state second team in 2008 and the third team in 2007. Poppens was named the NICL conference MVP as a sophomore and has been a first-team all-conference and all-district pick in each of her first three seasons.

Poppens has also had great success on the volleyball court. She was named to the all-state second team and was the MVP of the NICL as a junior. This season she was named to the state all-star team, and will lead the Falcons in the Class 2A state volleyball quarterfinals Thursday night against Kuemper (Carroll) Catholic.

Jessica Schroll, 5-11, G/F, Midland, Mich. (H.H. Dow High School)

Schroll started every game as a freshman and sophomore for H.H. Dow High School, before missing her entire junior season due to a knee injury. She led the Chargers to a Saginaw Valley Conference Championship as well as a district title during her freshman campaign.

“I think Jess is a kid that was under the radar due to an injury before her junior year,” Fennelly said. “She can run and jump and loves to compete. We believe that Jess can play a number of positions and will give us some needed size on the perimeter against so many great kids in the Big 12. It is also nice to add a player from another region of the country.”

The 5-11 guard/forward earned all-state honorable mention honors from the Detroit Free Press in 2007, after posting 13.7 points and 2.8 steals per game in her sophomore season. She was named first-team all-area in her first two prep campaigns.

Schroll has been awarded ISU’s Academic Recognition Award and is a member of the National Honor Society. She was an all-conference honoree as well as a state qualifier in track and field in 2006 and 2007.

Anna Prins, 6-6, C, Broomfield, Colo. ( Broomfield )

Prins has led Broomfield High School to back-to-back Colorado Class 4A state championships over the last two seasons. She has only lost four games thus far in her prep career and has posted 886 career points in three seasons.

“Anna is one of the most skilled inside players we saw throughout the recruiting process,” Fennelly said. “She was without question one of the most recruited players in the nation and we are excited that she has chosen to be a Cyclone. Anna will give us a true center who has the ability to step outside as well.”

Last season Prins earned first-team all-state accolades, after being an honorable-mention pick as a freshman and sophomore. The 6-6 center was named the Colorado Class 4A Miss Basketball by the Denver Post. She only played 18 games as a freshman before tearing her anterior cruciate ligament which ended her season.

Prins has earned all-conference and all-area honors in all three seasons for the Broomfield Eagles. She has also earned volleyball all-conference honors in 2005 and 2007. Prins has been a member of the all-academic team all three years and has been a honor student in six consecutive semesters. Her father, Ardell, was a four-year letterwinner in basketball at Colorado State University and is a native of Sibley, Iowa .