Richmond senior PJ McLaughlin signs his letter-of-intent for Pitt Community College Friday morning.
Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal
Richmond senior PJ McLaughlin signed his letter-of-intent for Pitt Community College Friday morning surrounded by family, teammates and coaches.
Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal
ROCKINGHAM — “Hard work” has been a mantra for Richmond senior guard PJ McLaughlin his entire life.
As a sophomore for the varsity Raiders, McLaughlin came off the bench, and eventually worked his way up to being the team’s starting point guard as a junior and senior, according head coach Donald Pettigrew.
“He stepped up and continued to get better,” Pettigrew said. “His work ethic is unreal. He changed his body, too. He worked hard and pushed his teammates.”
The product of McLaughlin’s labor all came to fruition Friday when he signed his official letter-of-intent to continue his basketball and academic career at Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC.
“As a kid, you think about playing at the next level,” McLaughlin said after thanking his family, coaches and teammates during the signing ceremony. “It’s a great feeling. Being here with everyone that supported me and was in my corner. It’s memories you’ll enjoy for life.”
During his junior season, he averaged 7.6 points and 3.7 assists per game, while earning all-conference honors.
Then, this season as a senior, McLaughlin showed his growth. Despite dealing with an injury for a couple games, he averaged 9.2 points, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
“It shows how hard he works,” Pettigrew said. “As coaches, that’s one of our goals to develop players and get them ready for the next level. It’s big for us and it’s big for him.”
McLaughlin said the playing style and the environment drew him to PCC. He added that the Bulldogs coaches brought him in and still wanted him even when he was dealing with his injury.
The Bulldogs play in Region 10 of the NJCAA, but opted out of the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pettigrew said McLaughlin will be playing against some tough competition with the Bulldogs, including Davidson-Davie Community College, which made it all the way to the NJCAA Division II national championship game this season.
Pettigrew added that McLaughlin will also come up against a couple former Raider teammates who play for other teams in the conference.
“I just have to keep putting that hard work in,” he said. “Stay in the gym and stay focused.”
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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2675 ext. 2751 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.