The ACC world has lost one of its notable media figures. Tucker McLaughlin Jr., the long-time advertising director and sports editor of the (South Boston, VA) News & Record and the associated Mecklenburg Sun, passed away Sunday at 67. That followed a long battle with brain cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2019.
McLaughlin (seen at right above) had covered local sports in that area since the 1970s. He was particularly known for his coverage of ACC basketball; the conference recognized him with the annual Marvin “Skeeter” Francis Award for service to or coverage of ACC sports in 2022. And news of his passing prompted a lot of tributes from the ACC media world:
We’ve lost the Big Dog. A kind soul and one of the characters who made the ACC the ACC, once. His legend will live on. https://t.co/ZNvJ24g3xE
— Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) April 17, 2023
Sad news. Tucker was an ACC institution and one of the warmest, kindest people you’ll ever meet. RIP Big Dog… https://t.co/8SrTsnVdUm
— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) April 17, 2023
Damn. That’s awful news. Always loved seeing him on the road around ACC, particularly Tobacco Road. Just a good dude. Being one of the folks he sometimes referred to as “big turkey” was a badge of honor, an ACC sports reporting rite of passage. RIP, Tucker https://t.co/uCQ5TC1piF
— Norm Wood (@normwood) April 17, 2023
Tucker and I shared many a drive up 29 for UVa games back when I was a reporting pup in Danville. He talked me off the ledge in this business more times than I can remember, something he later reminded me of constantly!
So sad to see this. RIP, Big Dog. https://t.co/YGgwcB7wS0
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 17, 2023
Tucker loved covering the ACC. He was a legend in the press rooms and had a quick wit about him.
Me: Tuck, how's it going?
Him: I'm working like a dog. I need to be cloned.But there was only one Tucker. https://t.co/jvzfXpaJC7
— Jeff Gravley (@JGravleySPORTS) April 17, 2023
What a legend. Everyone has a Tucker story. RIP ? https://t.co/89CZLu303a
— Jonas Pope IV (@JEPopeIV) April 17, 2023
Here’s more on McLaughlin from that News & Record piece on his passing:
After returning home from school — he attended Hampden-Sydney College — McLaughlin went to work for the family newspaper, first as a writer and later as an advertising representative. In addition to the News & Record, he also worked for and became editor of The Mecklenburg Sun, founded in 1976.
His father, Tucker W. McLaughlin Sr., in 1973 purchased then-sister publications, the South Boston News and Record-Advertiser, which later became the News & Record. His son Tucker Jr. later became advertising director for both the N&R and The Sun.
As sports editor for the News & Record, McLaughlin covered a range of local sports but also became an accredited sportswriter covering ACC and NCAA football and basketball and NASCAR racing.
And here’s more on his ACC coverage from what the paper wrote on him when he received that Marvin “Skeeter” Francis award (alongside another area legend, famed Roanoke Times sportswriter Doug Doughty) last March:
Among McLaughlin’s career highlights is his coverage of multiple Final Four basketball tournaments, most recently in 2019, when the University of Virginia won its first national championship the year after becoming the first no. 1 seed to lose in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. McLaughlin parlayed that experience into a well-received special section on Virginia’s championship run in the News & Record.
His resume includes more than 30 ACC Tournaments, the first 15 ACC Football Championships and multiple NCAA basketball regionals and Final Fours. In Halifax County and Southside Virginia, McLaughlin has led the N&R’s coverage of Comet high school and Lions middle school sports, South Boston Speedway and VIR racing, and other local sporting news.
Our thoughts go out to McLaughlin’s family and friends.