CMU women’s basketball coach Sue Guevara has utilized the early signing period ­— Nov. 11-18 — to land three recruits for next season.

High school seniors Lauren Bellamy (Davison High School/Davison, Mich.), Nichole DiGuilio (Mount Vernon High School/Mount Vernon, Ohio) and Taylor Johnson (Belding High School/Belding, Mich.) have signed national letters of intent to play for CMU, beginning with the 2010-11 season.

“We wanted to get more tough-minded rebounders,” Guevara said. “All three of them bring a real fiery and aggressive style of play.”

Bellamy

A 6-foot forward, Bellamy averaged 12.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as a junior while leading the team to a district championship.

Davison High School coach T.J. Fischabber said Bellamy has led the varsity team in rebounding and scoring all three seasons and received interest from Michigan, Western Michigan and Ferris State before deciding to sign with Central Michigan.

“She’s in a key spot to take us back to a district championship and beyond this season,” Fischabber said.

Her father, Jeff, was a member of the 1987 CMU men’s basketball Mid-American Conference championship team, playing for the team from 1984-87.

DiGuilio

At 5 feet, 8 inches, DiGuilio can shoot the 3-pointer efficiently. She was named first-team all-district and first-team all-conference in Ohio by the Columbus Dispatch as a junior and second-team all-conference as a sophomore.

Mount Vernon High School coach Doug Savage said CMU was the first school to show interest and heavily pursue DiGuilio, an intangible he believes helped make her decision to sign with the Chippewas.

“It’s been a real goal of hers to play college basketball ever since I’ve known her,” he said. “She’s pretty much dedicated the last five years of her life to that.”

Savage said other schools that expressed interest included Akron, Bowling Green, Dayton, Northern Illinois and Wright State.

Johnson

A 5-foot, 11-inch forward that can rebound and shoot from beyond the 3-point line, Johnson has bounced around between Comstock Park and Belding during her high school career. As a junior at Belding, she averaged 16.6 points, nine rebounds, five steals and 3.5 assists per game, earning fourth-team all-state honors from the Detroit Free Press.

“She’s going to bring CMU unlimitless enthusiasm,” said Belding coach Mike Nelson. “I’ve never been around someone who loves basketball as much as she does.”

Despite receiving offers from bigger programs such as Colorado and New Mexico and visits to Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin-Green Bay, Johnson opted to stay home, choosing CMU.

“I think the biggest thing (about choosing CMU) was for her to be closer to home and the availability of her family to see her,” Nelson said.

On the horizon

Last month, Guevara earned her biggest recruit to date — a verbal commitment from 6-foot junior shooting guard Crystal Bradford (Inkster High School).

She is the No. 15 ranked player in the nation for the 2011 class.

E-mail the author: Aaron McMann