For the second consecutive year, Illinois women’s basketball head coach Matt Bollant has drawn a top-25 recruiting class to his program.

Joining the Orange and Blue next season will be forward Chatrice White and guards Amarah Coleman and Brooke Kissinger. White, a Shelby, Neb., native, leads the class of three, as she is ranked No. 27 nationally by ESPN and fills a huge need in the post for the Illini, standing at 6-foot-3. In her junior year of high school, White averaged 23.4 points, 14.2 rebounds, 5.2 blocks and 3.2 steals per game.

“We didn’t see a five that was better than (White) in her class,” Bollant said. “She’s got great hands, can run the floor, physical, tough and plays really hard. She also loves to practice, loves to get better.”

Coleman, a Bolingbrook, Ill., product, is ranked No. 81 overall in her class by ESPN and brings swiftness and ball handling to the table. She has ties to the program, as she is a former teammate of Illinois freshman Kennedy Cattenhead and is the stepsister to Jaylon Tate, guard on the Illini men’s basketball team. Bollant said the ties impacted her decision to attend the University.

“(Coleman) wants to be in a program that cares about both ends of the ball, that plays extremely hard and plays fast as well, because that fits her,” Bollant said. “She can really go … she was as fast for the basketball and as aggressive as anybody we saw.”

Kissinger, who hails from Minden, Neb., is not ranked in the top 100 nationally, but is ranked as the No. 18 guard and averaged 19.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game her junior year. Bollant said she is one of the best shooters in the country with “unlimited range.”

“I’m really thankful. I’ve got a great recruiting class,” Bollant said. “I’ve got a really great staff to make this happen and it’s our second year in a row getting a top-25 class, which is obviously really important to the future of this program.

“We’ve just got to stack a few recruiting classes on top of each other and help them get better and build some depth.”

The 2014 class ranks No. 23 in the nation, two spots ahead of last year’s class. The class also ranks third in the conference, just behind Ohio State and Nebraska.

Blake can be reached at [email protected].