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Two former members of the U.S. Boy’s Youth National Team highlights the USC 2012 recruiting class.
The Trojans announced this weekend that six high school seniors signed letters of intent with USC, including Michael Mullahey and Josh Kirchner who represented the United States in international tournaments this summer.
Kirchner, a 6-foot-6-inch middle blocker from Hamilton High in Wisconsin, was a member of the 2011 U.S. Boy’s Youth National Team that won a bronze medal at the Pan American Cup and ended the Youth World Championships in 11th place. In addition, Mullahey, a 6-foot-5-inch setter from Loyola High in Los Angeles, was an alternate on the U.S. team.
Along with Kirchner and Mullahey, high school standouts Brooks Varni, Christopher Orenic, Alex Slaught and Tommy Leonard round-out the Trojans’ recruiting class.
“We are thrilled about the character and talent that these players bring to the USC program, both on and off the court,” USC coach Bill Ferguson said in a statement. “Signing a class of this quality fills a lot of our future needs and allows us to build a solid talent base that will carry through the 2016 season.”
Both Varni and Orenic are from Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Varni, a 6-foot libero, and Orenic, a 6-foot-3-inch outside attacker, helped lead their club team to the 2011 U.S. Junior Olympics 17 Open Gold Division gold medal and were named to the All-Tournament team. In addition, Orenic was named the MVP of the tournament.
Slaught, a 6-foot-5-inch outside hitter from Loyola High, guided his club team to a the silver medal at the 2011 U.S. Junior Olympics 17 Open Gold Division. He also made the All-Tournament team.
Leonard, a 6-foot-8-inch middle attacker from Barrington, Illinois, is the one of two Midwest players in the USC recruiting class. The middle attacker was selected to the 2011 All-Northwest Area team.
USC last season won the MPSF regular season championship but lost to UC Santa Barbara in the MPSF Tournament championship match and the NCAA Tournament semifinals. The Trojans also became the first team since 1995 to be ranked No. 1 in the national rankings throughout the entire regular season.