JaQuori McLaughlin’s brilliant senior season for the UCSB men’s basketball team was rewarded as he was named the Big West Player of the Year on Monday.
The Gauchos won their first regular-season conference championship since 2010 and earned the No. 1 seed for this week’s Big West Tournament in Las Vegas.
In addition to McLaughlin’s award, coach Joe Pasternack was named Coach of the Year and sophomore guard Ajare Sanni was selected the Sixth Player of the Year.
Junior forward Amadou Sow was named to the All Big West First Team while senior guard Devearl Ramsey and junior forward Miles Norris received honorable mention accolades.
McLaughlin is the seventh UCSB player to earn Big West Player of the Year Honors. He joins Brian Shaw (1988), Lucius Davis (1992), Branduinn Fullove (2003), Alex Harris (2008), Orlando Johnson (2010) and Alan Williams (2014).
McLaughlin averaged 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 5.4 assists per game, the highest average among players with at least 20 games played. He was a three-time Big West Player of the Week and was a key factor in the Gauchos’ run to the title after an 0-2 start.
Following a pair of December losses at UC Irvine, McLaughlin scored 11 or more points in 11 consecutive games and guided the program to a school-record 13 straight wins. Ultimately, the team won 15 of its last 16 regular season games.
Sow overcame an early injury and finished conference play strong. He enters the Big West Tournament averaging 13.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. In Saturday’s regular season finale against Cal Poly, he scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his league-leading fifth double-double of the season.
Sow, who is on the Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List, is the first Gaucho player to earn all-league honors in three straight seasons since Alan Williams did so 2013-15. Branduinn Fullove is the only player in school history to earn all-league honors in his first three seasons and four-straight overall.
Sanni flourished off the bench. He averaged 11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game, made 39 three-point baskets and shot 41.1% from outside the arc.
A transfer from the University of the Pacific, Sanni added great depth in a season where teams played back-to-back nights. He scored in double-figures 12 times in his 21 games and his 39 three-point baskets leads the team as it heads.
Ramsey keyed a tough Gaucho defense. He had 39 steals in 23 games, including 29 in 16 conference games. He also posted an assist-to-turnover ration of 3.8-to-1, with 87 assist to just 23 turnovers.
Ramsey averages 7.7 points, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.8 rebounds per game.
The 6-foot-10 Norris transferred to Santa Barbara after a season at City College of San Francisco and the University of Oregon. He averages 9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-leading 1.0 blocked shots per game. His movement off the ball generated several dunks, with the assists usually coming from McLaughlin or Ramsey. Norris was effective from the three-point line, knocking down 26 treys.
In his fourth season, Pasternack led the Gauchos to the regular-season title after three straight second-place finishes. Their 13-3 conference record is the program’s best ever and the 19-4 overall mark represents the highest winning percentage (.836) in school history.
The team set a school marks with 17 straight home wins, 11 Big West wins in a row, seven straight road wins and a overall winning streak of 13 in a row.
If the Gauchos win their Big West Tournament opener on Thursday, it would give Pasternack four straight 20-win seasons, which would also be a program first.
UCSB will play either Long Beach State or Cal State Northridge on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
2020-21All BIG WEST MEN’S BASKETBALL
BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JaQuori McLaughlin, UCSB
BIG WEST NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
TJ Starks, CSUN
BIG WEST FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Dawson Baker, UC Irvine
BIG WEST COACH OF THE YEAR
Joe Pasternack, UC Santa Barbara
FIRST TEAM
JaQuori McLaughlin, UCSB; Amadou Sow, UCSB; Arinze Chidom, UC Riverside; Taze Moore, CSU Bakersfield;
TJ Starks, CSUN; Collin Welp, UC Irvine
SECOND TEAM
Darius Brown II, CSUN; Brad Greene, UC Irvine; Tray Maddox Jr., Cal State Fullerton; Ezra Manjon, UC Davis; Elijah Pepper, UC Davis
HONORABLE MENTION
Justin Edler-Davis, CSU Bakersfield; Chance Hunter, Long Beach State; Alimamy Koroma, Cal Poly; Casdon Jardine, Hawaii; James Jean-Marie, Hawaii; Junior Madut, Hawaii; Miles Norris, UCSB; Jock Perry, UC Riverside; Zyon Pullin, UC. Riverside; Devearl Ramsey, UCSB; Justin Webster, Hawaii; Isaiah Washington, Long Beach State
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.