Vaughn returning to Rider for final year of eligibility
Welcome back! Dimencio Vaughn is returning to Rider for his final season of eligibility after a year away at Ole Miss as a grad transfer.
“It will be fun to be back in the Zoo,” Vaughn said on Monday. “This is definitely home. I created a lot of memories in this building. It will be fun to come back and create more memories and records.”
The NCAA granted all student-athletes an extra year of eligibility due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to issue a blanket waiver later this month allowing all transfers to compete without sitting out the season.
Vaughn was twice a First Team All-MAAC selection with the Broncs, including the 2019-20 season when he averaged 14.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and shot 48.8% overall in 30 games.
His 1,239 career points ranks 26th all-time in Rider history. If he were to repeat the 443 points he scored during the 19-20 season, he would move into the top-10 all-time.
“For sure there is (unfinished business),” said Vaughn, who was one of four 1,000-point scorers on the team two seasons ago who never got to take the floor at the MAAC Tournament. “If we played in the conference tournament two years ago, we definitely would have won that. This is going to be a fun year. I can’t wait. This summer is going to be pretty interesting, getting to work out with some of the guys. There are some guys I still know from when I was here before, but just getting the new guys involved and the same page as me.”
Vaughn joined a roster at Ole Miss that was stocked with other transfers and found playing time hard to come by. He scored just 27 points in 16 total games before entering the transfer portal before the end of the season.
He said he doesn’t consider this past season a lost year.
“I literally sat and watched everything,” Vaughn said. “When I watch everything, it makes my IQ go way up. I was paying attention to how guys move ... just different things (like) timing, spacing is very important, communication, talking the right way to your teammates, getting them involved in the game.”
His return to Lawrenceville will boost a team that is coming off a 6-17 season and finished last in the MAAC.
Vaughn will pair up with Second Team All-MAAC selection Dwight Murray
Jr. (15.8 points/ 6.0 rebounds/ 4.1 assists) to form what should be one of the top one-two punches in the league.
“I know of D.J. and I know he’s a good guy,” Vaughn said. “It’s always a plus to have somebody like him beside me, especially when you are trying to get team things done, which is win a championship.”
Other key contributors expected to return are guards Allen Powell (8.3 points/ 44% from 3) and Corey McKeithan (injury redshirt) and forward Dontrell McQuarter (9.0 points/ 5.2 rebounds).
Rider is used to finishing in the top half of the league under coach Kevin Baggett, who is preparing for his 10th season in charge. His teams have placed in the top four in five of his nine seasons and in the top three four times.
Vaughn was a key part of a team that went 56-37 overall
and 38-18 in the MAAC over a three-year period before leaving for the SEC.
“I’m one of those kind of guys who doesn’t like being in last place,” Vaughn said. “I love when people doubt and say they are going to be
at the end of the MAAC. It’s a fun game, but the underdogs are going to be on top.” As for his role? “(Coach) just wants me to be Dimencio,” he said. “That role is pretty much explained.”