USC basketball star Jordan McLaughlin points Trojans toward bigger goals

Jordan McLaughlin, USC’s starting point guard, starts the school year with a pair of lists. He writes one; his father pens the other. Together, they comprise the goals that McLaughlin carries into the upcoming basketball season.

This year, however, McLaughlin decided to forgo writing his half. His father’s was lofty enough to leave no stone unturned. Among the benchmarks: First Team All-Pac-12. Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. Multiple triple-doubles. Lead the conference in assists. Lead the nation in assists.

“He gave me some good goals and some stretch goals to push myself to that limit,” said McLaughlin, a USC Trojans basketball co-captain.

Some of those seem implausible, but McLaughlin’s legacy at USC is marked by a drive to achieve what conventional wisdom says cannot be done. It’s how he wound up at Troy in the first place.

USC basketball believer

Raised in Rancho Cucamonga, McLaughlin committed to USC just before the arrival of head coach Andy Enfield. It did not deter him that the Trojans had won only 20 games over the past two years combined. Nor did he waver when the Trojans finished the 2014 campaign dead last in the Pac-12.

“I believed in the coaches’ vision,” McLaughlin said matter-of-factly.

And he was not the only recruit to do so that year. His backcourt-mate Elijah Stewart joined up that spring, along with since-transferred forwards Malik Marquetti and Malik Martin. Each one was highly regarded. But McLaughlin was something else entirely: a top point guard on the West Coast with offers from storied basketball stalwarts including Kansas, Indiana and UCLA.

“Those are the guys that change your program around,” said Jason Hart, the team’s assistant coach.

The prospect of someone of McLaughlin’s caliber signing on at the program’s nadir was so significant that the late Bill Sharman ’63, a legendary shooting guard for the Trojans and Boston Celtics, volunteered to un-retire his No. 11 jersey so that McLaughlin could wear it for USC.

A point guard with faith in the future

And gradually, changes started — though it was slow going at first. Despite his heralded arrival for the 2014-2015 season, the Trojans only improved their record by one game. That offseason, McLaughlin underwent surgery on both shoulders. There were murmurs that, after back-to-back finishes in the Pac-12 basement, perhaps the Trojans were going backward instead of forward.

Yet the point guard never lost faith. He noted that out of the Trojans’ 20 losses during his freshman year, seven were decided by two possessions or fewer. Once again, he saw what others didn’t.

“I tell everybody, ‘When you look at it, we weren’t getting blown out,’” McLaughlin said. “We learned from it. That’s what we’re supposed to do, learn from mistakes and learn from losses and turn them into wins.”

The next season, USC vaulted to 21-13 and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. Last year, the Trojans took an even bigger step, posting 26 wins — a program record — and advancing to the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2009. Now they’ve set their sights on the Final Four.

Revitalized Trojans basketball

McLaughlin has become the team’s heartbeat, its steadfast leader. He’s the one who shows up early and stays late. The one who never complains about extra work. The one who graduated in three years with his sociology degree and is earning a master’s in communication management.

He’s a great individual. His mom and dad should be proud because they raised a tremendous young man.

Jason Hart

“He’s a great individual,” Hart said. “His mom and dad should be proud because they raised a tremendous young man. Hopefully my wife and I can raise our kids exactly how they did theirs. I wouldn’t change one thing.”

McLaughlin is quick to point out that this revitalized era of Trojan basketball is “because of the hard work that’s been put into the program by the coaches and the players.” Yet those same coaches and players credit him with helping USC become a basketball destination once again.

“For him to believe in us and really come when our program was below sea level was really, really huge for us,” Hart said. “He is the reason why we are who we are today.”

“He was the first big recruit,” echoed junior forward Bennie Boatwright, a fellow co-captain. “Knowing that he was here influenced my decision to come here. … He started it all.”

On-the-court ambitions

Meanwhile, McLaughlin is looking ahead to check items off his list. If he’s lucky, the school might even re-retire his number 11 jersey, sliding his name into the rafters alongside Sharman’s. But he’ll settle for being regarded as someone who helped make things better in his own backyard.

“Just being a hometown hero right down the street and building something special,” he said.

And there’s one last achievement — bigger than a retired jersey or the unseen hours on the practice court. It would be the sum total of everything. He said it would make his legacy complete.

“You won’t be remembered fully unless you win a Pac-12 Championship or a national championship,” he said. “That’s definitely the goal. If I do that, it will seal the deal.”

Even nearing the end of his college career, Jordan McLaughlin remains ambitious. Underestimate him at your own risk.