McAuley of Portland star Ashley Cimino, who has been touted as one of the most highly recruited schoolgirl basketball players ever from the state of Maine, has made a verbal commitment to play for national power Stanford.

The 6-foot-2 forward, who just finished her junior year, was accepted to the school last week and told Stanford coach Tara Van DerVeer of her decision on Monday, according to Cimino’s mother, Lisa Cimino. Ashley Cimino is currently at an elite Nike basketball camp in Oregon and is heading to an AAU tournament later this week.

She’ll have a full scholarship, her mother said.

Cony of Augusta coach Paul Vachon, who beat Cimino’s Lions for the 2005 Class A state championship, said he couldn’t remember a Maine schoolgirl basketball player going to a program of Stanford’s caliber since Westbrook star Lisa Blais went to Old Dominion University, where she was a member of the 1985 national championship team.

Stanford earned a No. 2 seed for the 2006 NCAA tournament and is consistently ranked in the top 10 during the regular season.

“This lets kids know it’s now possible [to attend a high-level program],” said Vachon, who has coached the Rams to six state titles since the 1985-86 season. “[Cimino is] certainly a very, very deserving young lady. It says a lot for women’s basketball in the state of Maine. … It’s a great compliment to her and the work she put into it. It’s a great honor. I wish her the best.”

Cimino has raked in a number of awards. She was the Gatorade Maine Player of the Year and earned first-team All-Maine and first-team Southern Maine Activities Association honors.

She was also named to the 10-member USA Today Underclassmen All-USA girls team.

Cimino’s mother said she had narrowed down her college choices to Stanford, Boston College, reigning national champion Maryland, Harvard and Dartmouth.

Cimino visited Stanford, which is located in Stanford, Calif., last summer and decided then she wanted to go there.

“She just fell in love with the place,” Lisa Cimino said. “I think for her it was the best combination of basketball and academics, and she wanted to go to a really good school for academics. She wanted the best of both.”

Student-athletes must be accepted to Stanford before they can commit to playing there, Lisa Cimino said.

Cimino averaged 17.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists per game. She shot 63.2 percent from the floor and 72.6 percent from the line.

She also plays for the New England Crusaders, an AAU team based in New Hampshire.

Coaches cannot comment on recruits until they sign a National Letter of Intent. The early signing period is in November.

The eligibility of all student-athletes is contingent upon compliance with all NCAA rules, including registration with the NCAA Clearinghouse.