Colorado's first recruit from the 2009 class will be hard to miss when she arrives on campus to begin her women's college basketball career.

Melissa MacFarlane of Omaha, Neb., stands 6-foot-7.

She will become the tallest player in CU history once she officially joins the team.

And if Colorado can land 6-6 center Anna Prins from Broomfield, the Buffs would have a potent punch in the paint.

"If I played the high post and she played the low post," MacFarlane said Monday, "we'd be hard to stop."

MacFarlane and Prins will be high school seniors this fall. MacFarlane was the first player to commit to CU, leaving the Buffs with five more scholarships to offer for 2009 high school graduates.

MacFarlane said she doesn't know Prins, or wheth-er Prins will come to CU, but they played against each other at a tournament earlier this year in Virginia. MacFarlane is more of a physical center, while Prins is more of a finesse player.

MacFarlane also has some interesting teammates on her summer team -- most notably Boulder twin sisters Meagan and Brenna Malcolm-Peck, who are being recruited by CU along with Prins.

Another one of MacFarlane's teammates includes 6-0 guard/forward Emma Golen, who is considering CU. Golen played on one of the top high school teams in the Detroit area this past season.

But it wasn't the potential to play with familiar faces that lured MacFarlane to Boulder.

MacFarlane, who made 14 unofficial visits to various schools, had a gut feeling that Colorado was the place for her.

She visited two weeks ago, and CU only started recruiting her two months ago.

"I'm glad they did contact me," MacFarlane said. "Right when I walked on campus I just knew it was right for me."

MacFarlane gets her height from her father, Dave, who checks in at 7-feet tall. Dave MacFarlane played college basketball at Nebraska in 1979-81, before transferring to Saint Michael's in Vermont.

There was never any pressure to follow in her dad's footsteps at Lincoln, especially since she wanted to get a little further away from home and because Nebraska didn't recruit her until late in the process.

"We went through that," Dave MacFarlane said. "It would have been nice. But she had to visit each school for herself and feel comfortable with that school."

MacFarlane, who will be CU's first player from the state of Nebraska, averaged 11.1 points and eight rebounds per game last season for Millard North High School in Omaha.

She was not rated by scout.com, although she was listed as a Class A all-state honorable mention player by the Omaha World-Herald in March.

By the time MacFarlane arrives on campus, CU will have only one center in Courtney Dunn unless another center such as Prins chooses to attend Colorado. Dunn likes to step outside and shoot 3-pointers.

MacFarlane is expected to be more of a back-to-the basket type of center, meaning playing time could be available right away for her.

"It's not something I'm expecting to do," MacFarlane said. "Usually freshmen don't play right away. I look at it as whoever performs in the gym should get to play. It's not going to come to you. You have to work for it."

Players can't sign a letter of intent until November and college coaches can't comment on recruits until they sign a letter of intent.