MOSCOW - Later this week Idaho women's basketball coach Jon Newlee will see what his 2011-12 team can do on the floor, with the season-opener just three days away. But today, Newlee is looking a little further down the road, as he signed four high school seniors who will join Idaho's program next fall.

Newlee's early signing class includes Abigail Quinnett, a 6-foot-1 post from Moscow High School and Ali Forde, a 6-foot-2 post from Woodinville High School in Woodinville, Wash., and the sister of Idaho football player Maxx Forde.  Newlee also went to Southern California to sign Concepcion (Connie) Ballestero and Christina Salvatore. Ballestero is a 5-foot-9 guard from Villa Park High School in Orange, Calif., and Salvatore is a 5-foot-11 wing from Canyon High School in Anaheim, Calif. Ballestero and Salvatore were club teammates for the OC Rhythm with current Vandal freshman Krissy Karr.

"Today is a great day to be a Vandal, because our future is looking bright," Newlee said. "Those are the four we offered, we brought those four on campus, and they all committed. It's risky to put all your eggs in one basket in recruiting, but these are the ones I really wanted and we got them all, and that rarely happens in recruiting."

Through three seasons at Moscow High School, Quinnett is a two-time Inland Empire League MVP, two-time team captain and a two-time all-state selection, including first-team honors in 2010-11. As a junior, Quinnett averaged 12.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. Her sophomore season, she averaged 13.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Quinnett averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game as a freshman and was named the team's Most Inspirational Player.

"Abi is going to bring a lot of athleticism to our program," Newlee said. "There's a really high ceiling on Abi and her development as a basketball player, and we're excited to get her here and work with her for four years and really develop her as a player. I see her coming in and making a big impact for the Vandals in the next few years as she grows as a basketball player. It's great to have a local player here from in town. You always want to recruit home first and then look further away. To get a great player like Abi to stay home and really buy in to what we're doing here at Idaho is fantastic."

Ali Forde will join the Vandals on a basketball scholarship, and compete in volleyball as well. Forde averaged a double-double in each of her last two seasons on the basketball court for Woodinville High School. As a junior she averaged 12.0 points and 10.0 points per game while leading WHS to a 21-7 record. She also averaged 4.2 blocks, 3.0 assists and 3.1 steals per game. As a sophomore, Forde averaged 15.6 points and 13.0 rebounds per game to go along with 3.3 assists, 3.2 steals and 2.8 blocks. In spring 2010, Forde was named the Seattle Times' Female Athlete of the Year.

"Ali is going to bring a huge presence into our post spot as a freshman," Newlee said. "She's physical, and she was a highly recruited player from Pac-12 and WCC schools. She can defend, she can finish inside, she can step out and hit shots. I'm anticipating Ali will come in right away and make a big impact with her work ethic and what she has done at the club level and at the high school level."

Forde will join an elite list, one that includes basketball All-American Alli Nieman and volleyball All-American Mindy Rice, as players to compete in both basketball and volleyball at Idaho. During her senior season in volleyball, Forde has led Woodinville HS to the KingCo 4A championship and this week's Washington high school state volleyball tournament, where she is on the Seattle Times' "Six to Watch" list.

"It will be interesting to see how Ali is able to balance basketball and volleyball," Newlee said. "It's a challenge, and she knows it's going to be a challenge. And you have to add that she's very academic oriented and you throw in the academics with all the offseason work and the work during the season, and it's a load. I think Ali is a player who can catch up rapidly with what we're doing, and hopefully she can make both teams the best they can be."

Salvatore averaged 16.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a junior, leading Canyon High School to a 24-9 overall record. As a sophomore at CHS, Salvatore averaged 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. In 2010-11 she earned California Interscholastic Federation 2A Player of the Year honors and was a Division II all-state and All-Century League first-team selection.

"Christina is a big-time scorer at both the club level and the high school level," Newlee said. "She's hard to guard because she is big and strong. She can go inside and finish and she can step outside and really shoot the three. She also has a great mid-range jump shot. I can't wait for her to get up here. She is one of the final pieces to our puzzle offensively from really implementing our style that we want to get to, and she's going to give us an explosive scorer from the perimeter. She is a great kid and she's a great student as well."

Through three seasons at Villa Park High School, Ballestero was a first-team all-league selection, a two-time team captain, first-team all-CIF honoree, and team MVP. She averaged 15.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game during her junior season while shooting 42 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point distance. She also competed in track for the Spartans. Ballestero earned Villa Park High School's Top Scholar Athlete of the Year honor her junior year, and earned Scholar Athlete honors as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

"Connie can play point guard but we're bringing here in here as an off-guard," Newlee said. "She can really shoot the three and she does a great job of getting to the rim. She is a strong kid and can really finish inside. She's a great defender getting out on people and she just brings a lot of energy on the floor when she gets out there. She's solid, she can do a lot of things well. She is very multidimensional. Bringing Christina and Connie in is exactly what we were looking for as a backcourt with (seniors) Keri (Arendse) and Ganeaya (Rogers) leaving. This is a great addition for our program and I'm really excited for them to get here."

Salvatore and Ballestero will be reunited with Karr, as the three played club basketball together for the OC Rhythm.

"It will be interesting to see them all three on the court together again like we did a couple summers ago," Newlee said. "Krissy was instrumental in letting them know what Idaho really is. It's great having three players from southern California now, who all played together. It opens up a new avenue for us in recruiting. There is so much talent in California that we haven't really been able to tap into yet, and we're looking forward to continuing that pipeline."

The incoming class will help replace guards Arendse and Rogers, along with senior post Adrie Shiels, who all exhaust their eligibility after the 2011-12 season.

"With these four players we got exactly what we were looking for," Newlee said. "We got who we wanted right now. We've filled every spot we needed to fill, and now these last two classes -- the freshman class this year and these players who are signing now -- are absolutely going to be the future of Vandal women's basketball, and we couldn't have drawn it up any better."