Irvine Valley men's basketball player Yanick Kulich has signed with The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Kulich was a sophomore forward for the Lasers this past season.
The 6-6 Kulich averaged 3.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and shot 48.9 percent from the field.
He bounced back and played important minutes for IVC after having to sit out because of injuries the previous two seasons.
Kulich had three games where he scored in double figures during the 2013-14 season. He had 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor in Irvine Valley's win over Cana~da in the Monterey Peninsula Tournament.
He scored 10 points against both Orange Coast and Fullerton in Orange Empire Conference victories for the Lasers. Kulich also posted six games with at least five rebounds, including a season-high eight rebounds in a win over West Valley.
He helped Irvine Valley finish with a record of 25-5 this past season and make the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. IVC was also ranked No. 1 in the state for the first time in program history during the middle of last season.
Kulich, who was a standout player at Woodbridge High in Irvine, gray-shirted for the Lasers in 2009-10.
He played in 26 games during the 2010-11 season and averaged 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds a game off the bench. Kulich helped IVC to a 23-8 record and a trip to the Elite Eight in the playoffs.
Kulich then sat out the 2011-12 and 2013-14 campaigns.
He is headed to a Academy of Art team that had a record of 6-21 last season, but turned in the highest win total in program history in 2012-13.
The Academy of Art is a NCAA Division 2 school and plays in the PacWest Conference.
Kulich is the fifth sophomore player from IVC's 2013-14 team to head to a four-year school. Declan Daly signed with Cal State San Marcos, Shaquille Hunter is headed to Cal State Dominguez Hills, Austin Priest will play at Chapman University and Dathon Spencer will be at the University of Lethbridge in Canada.
