COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the second consecutive year, the Texas A&M women’s basketball program has landed one of the top recruiting classes in the nation with the signing of two top-rated high school prospects who will join the nationally-ranked Aggies for the 2010-11 season as announced by head coach Gary Blair on Wednesday.

A&M will welcome the highest-ever rated player in school history in 6-foot-4 center Karla Gilbert out of A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas, and 5-foot-9 guard Kristen Grant out of Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas. The signing of Gilbert and Grant has several scouting services rating the Aggies’ recruiting class as high as No. 5 in the country by All-Star Girls Report. ESPN HoopGurlz has also rated this year’s signing class as No. 1 in the Big 12.

“These are two kids who are going to be impact people and not just players for us,” Blair said. “Recruiting is done through building strong relationships. Give my coaching staff a lot of credit. As usual, Coach (Vic) Schaefer, Coach (Kelly) Bond and Coach (Johnnie) Harris have done an excellent job of signing a national class in state. Last year, we went out of state and this year we stayed homegrown. Sometimes homegrown leads you into a better recruiting class. We will have one scholarship available.”

Rated the No. 9 overall prospect in the Class of 2010 and No. 1 post player in the country by ESPN HoopGurlz, Gilbert is a second generation Aggie as her father, Jimmie Gilbert, played for the A&M men’s basketball team from 1983-86 and was named to the All-Southwest Conference Newcomer Team in 1983. Last season, she averaged 19 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocks per game as a junior.

“We have been watching Karla since the first day we arrived on campus in 2003,” Blair said. “At our first press conference, we heard about a young lady in town who was going to be a great player like her mom and dad. Her father, Jimmie Gilbert, played for A&M in the 80’s and I recruited her mother, Nelda (Roy) Gilbert, when I coached at Stephen F. Austin. Karla is going to give us the size we need to compete in the Big 12 Conference over the next four years. The league keeps getting better and taller.”

A local three-sport athlete at A&M Consolidated, Gilbert also competes in volleyball and throws the discus and shot put during the track and field season. Her mother and high school basketball coach, Nelda Gilbert, was a former post player at North Texas. The younger Gilbert was named District 12-5A Offensive Player of the Year, first team All Brazos Valley and team MVP in 2008. She is also a 2010 McDonald’s All-American nominee.

“Karla has great fundamentals and great ball skills,” Blair said. “She averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds for the adidas National Team and was the most valuable player this summer in Japan. Karla has a chance to be great for us inside. When we lose Damitria Buchanan this year, she will be a force in the paint and will be a very good balance between Kelsey Assarian and Danielle Adams. This will allow us to have three legitimate Big 12 post players who can play the five or four position.”

Gilbert is only the second girls’ basketball player out of A&M Consol to sign with the Aggies next to former player Julia “Trigg” Crawford (1978-81). Other A&M Consol graduates to don the Maroon and White include Marcus Watkins, son of former men’s head basketball coach Melvin Watkins, and Brian Barone, son of former men’s basketball head coach Tony Barone. Gilbert chose A&M over Baylor, Duke, Connecticut, Miami (Fla.) and Florida.

“Karla is a national recruit who could have went anywhere in the country,” Blair said. “She reminds me of All-American Seimone Augustus at LSU. She was the hometown kid who turned around the program. LSU went straight to the top and their attendance doubled and tripled. People in the community would come out to see her play and I’m hoping the same will happen in College Station. We’ve had very good players take us to the NCAA Elite Eight and Sweet 16, and Karla can help us sustain that pattern. She can push us up to that next level to be able to compete in the best women’s basketball conference in the nation in the Big 12.”

Rated the No. 20 overall prospect in the Class of 2010 and No. 7 shooting guard in the country by the All-Star Girls Report, Grant played for one of the best summer league programs in DFW Elite, the same program that has produced a number of great athletes including Texas A&M all-time leading scorer Takia Starks, Texas’ Tiffany Jackson and Baylor’s Brittney Griner. She is currently the No. 10-rated player out of the Lone Star State according to Premier Basketball Report.

“Kristen is a young lady who has been to our Elite Basketball Camp and our campus a number of times,” Blair said. “We feel very fortunate to sign her. If I could compare her to any A&M player past or present on the men’s side, it would be Dominique Kirk. She is an all-around player who can do a lot of things on the court. Kristen can come in and compete for playing time at any of the guard positions. She is strong and has the ability to be a good rebounder. She can also score and defend.”

Grant plans to major in biomedical science at Texas A&M with hopes of attending veterinarian school in the future. She chose A&M over Duke, Oklahoma, Northwestern, SMU and Texas Tech.

“Kristen is a kid who wanted to be an Aggie and turned down a lot of other schools this summer,” Blair said. “She comes from a tremendous family and we are happy to have her join our program. She does it all for her high school, Arlington Lamar, and is their main offensive threat. Hopefully, she can take them further this year during her senior season.”

Last year, the Aggies signed the sixth-best recruiting class in the country with the additions of out-of-state talent in National JUCO Player of the Year and preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Danielle Adams (Kansas City, Mo.) and current A&M freshmen Diamond Ashmore (Midwest City, Okla.), Kristi Bellock (St. Rose, La.), Adrienne Pratcher (Memphis, Tenn.) and Cierra Windham (Corona, Calif.).

2009-10 TEXAS A&M WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SIGNEES

Karla Gilbert, 6-4, Center, College Station, Texas (A&M Consolidated HS)

Kristen Grant, 5-9, Guard, Arlington, Texas (Lamar HS)

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT TEXAS A&M’S SIGNEES …

“Texas A&M had a tremendous recruiting class signing two of the top players in the state of Texas. The Aggies really helped themselves in the post with the addition of Karla Gilbert who is a great post player. Kristen Grant is a great athletic guard. Both will be impact players to the program and should make contributions right away. A&M continues to reload every year and is already hitting the recruiting trail hard in 2011.” – Bret McCormick, All-Star Girls Report

“The 6-4 post has all the tools to be a top-notch college post with size, strength, length, good hands, good balance and the ability to finish around the cup. The next evolution seems to be working from the high post, where she does a good job of finding the gaps and calling for the ball. More times than not, she’s going to attack the rim from there and would be an extremely tough guard, if she can prove herself from the elbow and short corners with her jumper. Defensively, she is capable of being a shutdown defender, if she wants to work at it. All of the tools are there.” – Glenn Nelson, ESPN HoopGurlz on Karla Gilbert

“In terms of her basketball skills, Kristen Grant is a really strong guard who can play at the one or two positions. She is a good shooter and is an outstanding defender. She will add depth to the guard position for Texas A&M. Not only is she a great player, but a high-character person who will bring a winning mentality to the program. She will compete for all-league honors before she departs A&M.” – Kelvin Powell, ESPN HoopGurlz

“Both of these kids are top tier players with a lot of upside potential and will be great additions for Texas A&M. Karla Gilbert has good size and can shoot from the elbow and take her man down low on the offensive end. She is dangerous on the block and uses her body well on the defensive end. Kristen Grant can play the wing or the point. She is a very athletic guard and is a good passer on the open court. She is quick, fast and can score off the dribble. Her biggest asset is her intensity on the defensive end.” – Joey Simmons, Premier Basketball Report