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June 1, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Former University of Virginia men’s basketball players Jason Williford and Pete McLaughlin have joined the staffs of two former Virginia basketball coaches. Williford has been named an assistant coach at Boston University under head coach Dennis Wolff, while McLaughlin has been named graduate manager at American University under head coach Jeff Jones.
Williford was a three-year starter and four-year letterman for the Cavaliers from 1992-95. A native of Richmond, Va., Williford helped Virginia reach the NCAA Tournament’s “Elite Eight” in 1995, the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and the NCAA Tournament’s `Sweet 16″ in 1993. As a freshman, he was a member of UVa’s National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship team in 1992.
He averaged 6.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for his Virginia career. His best overall season was in 1993-94 when he averaged 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
After concluding his UVa career, Williford enjoyed a successful professional basketball career overseas, starring in the Icelandic Professional League and the Korean Basketball League. He began his coaching career in Iceland, coaching the Under-20 Haukar Club Team in 1995-96. Williford returned to the United States to serve as a volunteer assistant at Virginia Union University in the fall of 1999 and he was an assistant coach at Richmond’s John Marshall High School during the 1999-2000 season.
“Jason will be a tremendous addition to our staff in every way,” said Wolff, a former assistant coach at Virginia. “I was fortunate to coach Jason at Virginia and I know what type of player he was on those teams.”
Williford will be involved in all basketball operations except off-campus recruiting at Boston University.
McLaughlin earned four letters at Virginia from 1995-98 and was a co-captain of the 1998 team. He was a co-recipient of the team’s Michael McCann Leadership Award in 1998. From Maplewood, N.J., McLaughlin joined the Virginia program as a walk-on and saw action in 42 games during his UVa career. While he was a member of the team, the Cavaliers reached the NCAA Tournament’s “Elite Eight” in 1995 and also participated in the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
McLaughlin spent the last two years as assistant post-graduate basketball coach at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va.
“I’m very excited to be able to add Pete to our staff,” said Jones, a former head coach at Virginia. “He was one of the most fundamentally sound players I ever coached, and his knowledge of the game and leadership abilities will make an impact on our program immediately.”