LEXINGTON, Ky. — Former Irish volleyball head coach Jim McLaughlin was one of four members named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s 2021 Hall of Fame class, the AVCA announced on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 17).
McLaughlin coached the Irish from 2014-17 and in his third season the Irish produced a second consecutive 22-10 record and the first Irish appearance in the NCAA Championship since 2012. The Irish posted those two straight 22-win seasons after combining for 13 victories in the two previous years.
McLaughlin holds the distinction of being the only coach to win both Division I men’s and women’s volleyball championships. He won a title on the men’s side with the University of Southern California in 1990 and reached the pinnacle with the Washington women’s team in 2005.
After serving as an assistant with the UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine men’s teams in the latter half of the 1980s, he took over the reins at USC. In addition to winning the national championship with Trojans, he coached 15 All-Americans, including two-time national player of the year Bryan Ivie.
He was also the women’s head coach at Kansas State (1997–2000) and Washington (2001–14). Across 21 seasons with the three schools, he amassed a 490-178 (.734) record, and his squads made the NCAA tournament 18 times. His 2005 national championship team at Washington posted a school-best 32-1 record, and that season was part of a three-year stretch during which the Huskies made consecutive appearances in the NCAA semifinals.
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