Team USA volleyball star TJ DeFalco has made his mark on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 27-year-old was still in high school when he first joined the U.S. national team in 2015. He previously trained with volleyball legend Tyler Hildebrand, who compared DeFalco to one of the greatest athletes of all time: LeBron James.
“I saw LeBron play in high school,” Hildebrand told ESPN in 2012. “Obviously, LeBron is LeBron, and maybe it’s not as big a difference, but the way TJ is so much better than other kids his age reminds me of [him].”
At the time, Hildebrand added: “There’s no question that T.J. is the best volleyball player in the nation for his age group. I don’t think anyone would debate that.”
DeFalco was a top recruit as he headed into the NCAA. He played college volleyball at California State University, Long Beach, winning two NCAA Championships throughout his four years on the team. Now, his talents have impressed on the world stage at the Paris Olympics. (Team USA won a bronze medal on Friday, August 9, defeating Italy.)
“[Being in the Olympic Village] doesn’t really hit you until it does, and then you’re like, ‘Holy cow. I’m in the village right now, and there’s 45 different countries around me right now and we’re all walking to the cafeteria,'” DeFalco told KTLA in July shortly before the Games kicked off. “There’s no other timeframe on Earth where you can be able to do that. It’s really special and I’m excited about it.”
He was also looking forward to transforming the reputation of volleyball, which he referred to as “sort of a sleeper sport.”
“When people finally watch it for the first time, [the reaction is], ‘Holy cow, why are more people not watching this kind of thing?'” he said. “I would just want to say to the audience that if you guys have time, you don’t have anything to watch or your favorite Sports aren’t playing, give men’s volleyball a try.”
Scroll down to learn more about Team USA’s TJ DeFalco:
He Comes From a Big Family
DeFalco is one of seven siblings. According to his Team USA bio, all of the kids in his family have names that start with “T” and are all involved in volleyball. The DeFalcos grew up in Missouri before moving to Huntington Beach, California.
“It was kind of like the movie We Bought a Zoo,” the athlete told ESPN in 2012 of his Missouri roots, where his family raised exotic Animals.
He Was Homeschooled
Though he played volleyball for Huntington Beach High School in California after his family’s move, DeFalco and his siblings were all homeschooled students.
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DeFalco previously comPeted in the 2020 Tokyo Games, but Team USA didn’t come close to medal contention at the time. “We’ve got to have a little bit of dog in us,” DeFalco told VolleyballMag.com ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Is TJ DeFalco Single?
While showing off some of his Team USA Skims gear in a July TikTok, DeFalco hinted that his girlfriend — who he didn’t reference by name — is a fan of the brand. Before heading to Paris, he shared “some non-volleyball content” with his Instagram followers, including a pic of the couple on a boat.
He’s Played Pro Volleyball Overseas
When he’s not representing Team USA, DeFalco is an outside hitter for the JTEKT Stings in Japan. His pro career began in Italy in 2019 before he moved to Poland, where he played from 2021 to 2024.
