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JaQuori McLaughlin believes he could play an important role at point guard for Arizona starting in the 2016-17 season (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Arizona has a rich past of Seattle-area recruits with Jason Terry, Michael Dickerson and Marcus Williams, but that well went dry after Williams started his Arizona career in 2005.
Terry and Dickerson were important members of Arizona’s national title team in 1997, which occurred before Class of 2016 point guard prospect JaQuori McLaughlin was born. The senior-to-be at Seattle-area Gig Harbor (Wash.) Peninsula High School said Arizona is one of his favorites along with Wisconsin, Gonzaga and practically all of the Pac-12 schools.
Arizona coach Sean Miller and assistant Mark Phelps are recruiting McLaughlin, who was first recruited by former assistant Damon Stoudamire, a Pacific Northwest product from Portland, Ore., who is now at Memphis.
Could Miller and Phelps regenerate the productive Seattle-to-Tucson pipeline?
“It’s been a while but Arizona has a presence everywhere,” McLaughlin told me when asked about Arizona attracting Seattle-area players. “That’s a good program.”
His AAU coach, Chris Spivey of Team Access, agreed with McLaughlin that Arizona’s lack of recruits from Seattle over the last decade is irrelevant because of the stature of the program.
“They’ve had a couple of guys from our area, but Arizona, that’s a big-time program,” Spivey said. “No matter where they go, they’re going to sell out. They sell out at home. They bring bring big crowds on the road. Coach Miller continues to do a good job there.
“They are what they are, a major powerhouse in college basketball.”
Click on the “Next” arrow to follow the slideshow providing more information on McLaughlin …
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Site founder and award-winning sports journalist Javier Morales has published his first e-book, “The Highest Form of Living”, a fiction piece about a young man who overcomes a troubled upbringing without his lost father and wayward mother through basketball and hope. His hope is realized through the sport he loves. Basketball enables him to get past his fears. His experience on the court indirectly brings him closer to his parents in a unique, heartfelt way. Please order it at Amazon (for only $4.99) by clicking on the photo:
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