Stacia Rustad will be traveling a long way from home to play college basketball next season. Four thousand miles or so, at least.

Rustad, a 5-foot-7 guard from Kenai, Alaska, has signed an NCAA Letter of Intent to play hoop for Coach Trish Roberts’ University of Maine women’s basketball team next season.

Rustad, along with Katherine Gallant of Vaudreuil, Quebec, join Becky Marsden of Bennington, Vt., and Stephanie Guidi of Stormville, N.Y., in rounding out Roberts recruiting class this season.

Rustad, Alaska’s schoolgirl Player of the Year, could be the diamond in the rough of this year’s class. She finished her senior season at Kenai Central High by leading her team to a fourth-place state tournament finish. She averaged 22.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game.

The kicker is that she looked into Maine, writing to Roberts to see if interest may be there.

“She contacted us and we didn’t pursue it,” Roberts laughed. “Our thinking was, `Alaska?’ But anytime a player is persistant like that…. we looked at some tapes of her and through some different scouting looked at some tapes of her and through some different scouting services found out the kid is pretty good. I think we got a diamond in the rough.”

“Before I went (to Maine) and visited, I had an open mind about where I wanted to go,” said Rustad, who first heard of Maine through Coach Shawn Walsh’s highly successful hockey program. “I thought it would be the best place for me to play and get an education.”

The lone fault, Rustad said, is the distance.

“The University of Maine looked like something I would be interested in,” said Rustad, who contacted Roberts about attending Maine. “It was the right size. The only thing I don’t like is the distance from home.”

The distance from home is something Gallant does not have to worry about.

A product of John Abbott College Prep – the same school which beget four-year player Tracey Frenette – Gallant scored 19.1 ppg and grabbed 13.1 rpg this season.

“She’s a different kind of player (than Frenette),” Roberts said. “She’s a little bit stronger and can play the three (swing-type player) or four (power forward).”

The two earlier signees, Marsden and Guidi, recently completed successful seniors seasons of their own.

Marsden, a 6-1 center from Mount Anthony Union High, averaged 16.5 ppg this season and grabbed 13.5 rpg.

Guidi, a 5-11 1/2 forward from Carmel (N.Y.) High School, tossed in 15.6 ppg and picked off 13.9 rpg.

All in all, Roberts was very happy with this year’s recruits.

“I feel really good about this recruiting class,” she said. “It’s the best one we’ve had. I was disappointed (in last year’s freshmen). They came in and it was kind of a shock to them. This class will have to step in and help right off or we could be in trouble.”