In most of the United States , high school sophomores are thinking about two things, what to wear the next day, and what homework they should have done the night before. There are always exceptions. JaQuori Mclaughlin, who is already locking in his college future at Oregon State University, is one of these exceptions.

On September 25th, 2013, Oregon State University (OSU) offered young Mclaughlin a full ride scholarship to their university for basketball. Now, half of you are probably thinking to yourself, “How does a sophomore get a full ride scholarship for basketball after only one year of playing in high school?” well it didn’t just start in high school. Throughout middle school, he had attended basketball camps at OSU and had been speaking with the coaches regularly.

The other half of you are thinking, “Is accepting such a life changing offer at such a young age a good idea? What if a bigger and better college comes along?” Well,  Mclaughlin says, “I have always wanted to go to Oregon State.”

When one of his fellow teammates, senior Nolan Winter, was asked how Mclaughlin has been playing since he accepted the offer, he said, “He (Mclaughlin) is playing about the same, but he seems to me a little more comfortable now that he has a year of varsity under his belt.”

Mclaughlin clearly has become a hot commodity. His coach, Jake Jackson, former coach of the University of Arizona men’s basketball team, has been spreading the news about Mclaughlin.

“I’ve spoken to a number of schools about JaQuori. Harvard, Memphis, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State, Boise State, and more,” Jackson said.

 When Jackson was asked if he thought it was a good idea for Mclaughlin to accept such a life changing offer at such a young age, he said, “…deciding which college is right for him is up to his family and him, as for how early he chose to accept the scholarship, it was what he wanted to do and it was the college he wanted to go to.”

Even though he is only a sophomore, “…he is light years above of other kids his age…” according to Jackson. Being so young and making such a big life decision would be scary for anybody. But Mclaughlin, as said by Jackson, “Will do big things.”