It’s amazing what some national exposure can do for a basketball program. After winning the NCAA championship last year, Terrapin women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation ranked by the All-Star Girls Report.

Frese announced yesterday that the Terps have inked Marah Strickland, Anjale Barrett, Drey Mingo, Kim Rodgers and Katheryn Lyons, who will all play for Terps beginning in fall 2007.

“We are ecstatic about signing another potentially dominant class who will be able to continue to uphold the tradition that has been established here at Maryland,” Frese said in a press release. “Each one of these players comes from a winning background, and as we have gotten to know them and their families through the recruiting process, we know we are bringing in great people, as well.”

The heralded high-school players make up Frese’s fifth-straight top-10 recruiting class.

The Terps’ top-ranked recruit is Strickland, who is rated ninth in the country. She is the younger sister of former Terp Marché Strickland. The 5-foot-10 guard from Towson Catholic was named The (Baltimore) Sun’s player of the year in 2006.

“Marah is one of the best perimeter scorers in her class,” Frese said. “She has the ability to be effective against anyone in the country.”

Also joining the backcourt is Barrett, a 5-foot-9 guard who is the No. 11 player in the nation. She averaged 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals per game last season and is the sister of Bulls backup point guard Andre Barrett.

Mingo, of Marist High in Atlanta, is a 6-foot-2 power forward rated the No. 16 player in the country.

Rodgers, rated as the 17th-best senior in the nation, is a 5-foot-9 guard from Virginia Beach. Last season, she was named to Parade All-American’s third team.

Lyons is a 5-foot-10 guard who committed to this university in her sophomore year of high school. She led Bishop McGuiness High School in North Carolina to a perfect record last year, and has 1,297 career points after just three seasons.

Frese hinted at a strong recruiting class during media day when she was asked how she would distribute playing time amongst the current squad. Now it is official.

“Everyone talks about how we’re going to keep everyone happy this year, and the amount of talent we have,” Frese said. “I really anticipate next year with our numbers, we’ll have more of an issue of that.”

Contact reporter Mark Selig at mseligdbk@gmail.com.