SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University men's water polo team will add another top international recruit to its roster in 2025, as one of Australia's best youth players, Ashton Brown, signed Wednesday to join the Broncos next year.
 
Brown, who hails from Sydney and attended St. Augustine's College in nearby Brookvale, is a 6-foot, 4-inch, center who has represented Australia in youth, national and international competitions since his U14 competition days.
 
"We are very excited to have Ashton join our team next year," said Santa Clara head coach Keith Wilbur. "We think he is one of the top centers coming out of Australia and has potential to make an immediate impact with our program. He has already had an extended career with the Australian national team and its pipeline. He is a player that brings valued international experience and is going to be a great compliment with both the players we have returning and the other recruits in this incoming class."
 
Brown competed at both the FINA U16 and U18 World Championships in 2022 and 2024, respectively, and recently trained with Australia's senior national team ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. His U16 Australian squad made the quarterfinals of that 2022 FINA World Championship in Greece.
 
Brown represented his home state of New South Wales on five occasions in Australian national competitions, winning three national titles (U15, U17, U19). He was also a star at the club level. Brown and the Sydney University Water Polo Club won three consecutive national championships from 2022-24, and he was the team's top goal scorer at the championship tournament in both 2022 and '24.
 
Brown was the team captain at St. Augustine's College in 2023-24 and averaged eight goals per game that season. He was named the team's Most Valuable Player an impressive eight years in a row, from 2017-24.
 
Brown continues a stretch of top international recruit signings by the Broncos. Riccardo De Simon, who signed last year out of Italy, is a three-time West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week this season and is second on the team with 47 goals in his true freshman year.