UC Santa Barbara guard JaQuori McLaughlin, a Peninsula product, declares for NBA Draft
JaQuori McLaughlin, who starred at Peninsula High School before playing college basketball at Oregon State and UC Santa Barbara, has declared for the 2021 NBA Draft.
The standout point guard announced his decision Wednesday on social media following an honorable mention All-American senior season, during which he paced the Gauchos to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade.
McLaughlin collected 1,498 points during his college career, averaging 11.9 points, 3.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1 steal per game in 126 games.
He posted his best season as a senior at UCSB, averaging 16 points, 5.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in 26 games, leading the Gauchos to both a regular season title in the Big West and a Big West Tournament title.
He was named both the Big West Player of the Year and the Big West Tournament MVP.
McLaughlin’s production increased each of his college seasons. As a redshirt sophomore, he averaged 10.3 points and 4.1 assists starting each of the program’s 32 games, and bumped those numbers up to 13.4 points and 4.1 assists as a junior on his way to a honorable mention nod on the All-Big West team.
Prior to arriving in Santa Barbara, McLaughlin played his freshman season at Oregon State in 2016-17, started 30 of 32 games, averaged 10.5 points and 3.3 assists per game, and hit a freshman program record 58 3-pointers.
McLaughlin was a consensus four-star guard in high school, considered the No. 2 player in Washington in the 2016 class behind Rainier Beach’s Sam Cunliffe, and a top-100 player nationally.
He was a four-year starter at Peninsula, a four-time 3A South Puget Sound League first-team pick, the league’s MVP as a junior, and a two-time TNT All-Area selection.
His senior year in 2016, he was named Mr. Basketball by the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association — the award given by coaches in the state to one player each season spanning all six classifications — after averaging 19.3 points, 9.1 assists and 5.5 steals per game.
Peninsula won a school-record 21 games that season, and advanced to the state playoffs for the first time since 2008.
This story was originally published April 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
