Former QU standout McGaughey closes chapter on professional basketball career

CINCINNATI — Evan McGaughey’s passport reveals quite a story.

In the five years since his graduation from Quincy University, the Carthage native’s 4.5 x 3.5 inch booklet has been stamped enough times to allow him entrance into 15 countries on two different continents as he pursued a professional basketball career.

“I got to see a lot of really cool stuff someone from a small town like Carthage would never really dream of,” McGaughey said.

In fact, he filled one passport entirely.

“Before this last season, I had to get a new passport because it had too many stamps in it,” McGaughey said. “I’ll hold on to that and reminisce in 20 or 30 years probably.”

For now, he’ll start a new chapter that will keep him home.

The former Quincy University standout announced this week he is retiring after playing five seasons overseas, a journey that took him to Europe and South America and resulted in one league championship and a lifetime of memories.

“I still felt like I had plenty in the tank to keep going,” the 6-foot-9 McGaughey said. “I felt like I could have gone another three to five years. At the same time, I’m calling it quits and my body is feeling great. I’m healthy. I didn’t have any major injuries that will slow me down later in life.

“I always like looking at the positives. So looking at that part, it’s one of the best parts of it.”

Nothing will be better than spending more time with his wife and family.

McGaughey and his wife, Kara, will celebrate their second anniversary later this summer. They met in college — Kara Gerbus was a standout on the QU women’s basketball team — and have settled in Cincinnati, where she works as a NICU nurse.

“When I first started playing, she said, ‘Why don’t you play five years and see what happens with that,’” McGaughey said. “Well, this was five years and this is the end of it.”

He knows how special those five seasons were.

“Just seeing the world while playing a sport and getting paid for it is awesome,” McGaughey said. “Not many people can say they did that. That’s pretty cool.”

McGaughey, who was a prep standout at Illini West, became a three-time All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection at QU and ranks fourth in career scoring (1,574 points) and seventh in career rebounding (831 boards). He led the Hawks to a 25-7 season and NCAA Tournament berth as a senior during the 2016-17 season.

He headed to Germany the next year to begin playing professionally. McGaughey played for teams in Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Chile and Sweden. In his final season with the Koping Stars in Sweden, the 28-year-old McGaughey averaged 9.3 points and 8.7 rebounds.

While playing basketball earned him a living, the memories come from the other experiences.

“Meeting a lot of great people in each country and seeing how they live, what they do different from us, how they think of us is really a big part of this,” McGaughey said. “Learning and experiencing everything each season is the stuff I will never really forget.”

Nor will his family.

“I got my family over to Europe,” McGaughey said. “They got to experience a lot of things, too.”

So his parents’ passports contain a story, too.

“I don’t think my dad had a passport until then,” McGaughey said. “I think he got it when I signed to go overseas.”

Family get-togethers become a lot easier now, too. McGaughey already has plans to be in Hancock County in the fall for deer hunting season, and he will continue to pick up a basketball , although a smaller ball might become more of his game of choice.

“I’ll probably be playing a lot more golf now,” he said with a chuckle.