LOS ANGELES — Coach Pete Carroll and the Southern California Trojans, who already had the nation's most highly recruited quarterback on campus, received letters of intent from 16 more prized recruits on signing day Wednesday.

Matt Barkley, considered by many the best quarterback — and maybe the best player — in the country, graduated early from Mater Dei High in nearby Santa Ana and enrolled at USC last month.

Defensive end John Martinez of Salt Lake City and defensive end Devon Kennard of Phoenix are among the group of 14 high school players and two junior college players who committed to USC.

The Trojans' incoming class was ranked either No. 2 or No. 3 on top-10 lists by recruiting experts.

"We're very pleased with this class of recruits, as these are top-quality players both athletically and academically," Carroll said.

"We signed three players who were ranked as the top at their position in the nation (Barkley at quarterback, Kennard at defensive end, Martinez at center), highlighted by the No. 1 player in the country in Matt Barkley."

The Trojans went 12-1 last season, beat Penn State in the Rose Bowl and wound up No. 3 in the national rankings. USC has played in an NCAA-record seven straight BCS bowls, each of those years winning at least 11 games and finishing in the top four in the national rankings.

The team's incoming freshmen will include, in addition to Kennard and Martinez: defensive end James Boyd, wide receiver De'Von Flournoy, offensive lineman Kevin Graf; defensive backs Torin Harris, T.J. McDonald, Byron Moore and Patrick Hall; linebackers Jarvis Jones, Marquis Simmons, Kevin Greene, who also plays defensive end, and Frankie Telfort, who also can play in the secondary. Fullback Simione Vehikite rounds out the list.

The JC transfers, both from Mount San Antonio in suburban Walnut, are defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo and kicker-punter Jacob Harfman.

""This is an extraordinarily fast class across the board and every player is really athletic," Carroll said. "They are all very versatile players who can contribute on either side of the ball. We obviously put a huge emphasis on defense in this class, because of our defensive personnel losses this year and because we have so many returnees on offense.

"We signed a good mix of in-state and out-of-state players. Every one of these players will have a chance to contribute this year and we expect them to do so early on, especially at the linebacker and defensive end spots."