Forward Bra’Shey Ali signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at UK beginning with the 2011-12 season, UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell announced Friday. A 6-foot prospect from Plainfield, N.J., Ali has the skill set to play both in the paint and on the perimeter.

The No. 19 ranked forward by Blue Star Basketball, Ali chose UK over a number of other schools including West Virginia, Rutgers and Louisville. She will join Azia Bishop (Toledo, Ohio) and Bria Goss (Indianapolis, Ind.) as members of the nation’s No. 10 recruiting class in 2011, according to ESPN HoopGurlz. This year’s class marks Mitchell’s second consecutive top-10 recruiting class.

“I am happy to announce the addition of Bra’Shey Ali to our UK Hoops family,” Mitchell said in a UK Athletics release. “Bra’shey is an explosive athlete who fits in well with our style of play. I expect her to come to Kentucky and give us tremendous effort and energy. Our staff looks forward to working with her and helping her become an excellent student-athlete at the University of Kentucky.”

Ali will be enrolled in classes on Aug. 24 when UK’s fall semester begins and will be eligible to play for the Cats beginning this season.