Deonta Vaughn

As a member of the 2005 high school class, Vaughn was recruited by Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State and Purdue.[7] He made a verbal commitment to Indiana in October 2004;[7] however, when he made the decision to attend prep school, Vaughn became part of the 2006 class. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and in April 2006 he signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Cincinnati Bearcats.[13]

At Cincinnati, Vaughn chose jersey number 5 and made his debut on November 10, 2006 against Howard, playing 22 minutes and scoring 7 points.[14] He made his first start on November 21 against Wofford, and he scored a career-high 33 points in 38 minutes of play, shooting 12/24 from the field (9/17 on three-pointers).[14] That week, Vaughn was named Big East Rookie of the Week after the 33-point performance against Wofford and 19 points against Central Michigan.[2] On December 13, 2006 Vaughn scored 24 points against Xavier.[14] He then scored 25 points together with 9 assists (a career high) and 6 steals against NC State on December 23, and was named Rookie of the Week for the second time in the season.[2] He then scored 22 points on February 18, 2007 against Notre Dame, and 20 on February 28 against Seton Hall.[14] At the end of his freshman season, Vaughn was the team leader in points (14.5), assists (3.5) per game and steals per game (1.8);[15] He recorded the second-best scoring average for a Cincinnati freshman behind Dontonio Wingfield, who had averaged 16 points in the 1993–94 season,[2] and he was selected as a member of the All-Big East Rookie Team.[16]

Vaughn made his debut as a sophomore on November 9, 2007 in a game against Belmont, scoring 19 points in 37 minutes of play.[17] He then scored a new career high of 36 points against Coastal Carolina on November 6, shooting 12/19 from the field (9/15 on three-pointers) and 3/5 from the free throw line.[2][17] He was named Big East Player of the Week after scoring 29 points against Syracuse on January 9, 2008 and 25 against Villanova on January 12.[2] On January 23 he scored 34 points against UConn, shooting 10/14 from the field, including 8 out of 11 three-pointers.[17] During the 2008 Big East Tournament, Vaughn scored 30 points against Pittsburgh on March 12, including 20 consecutive points and 23 in the second half; Cincinnati lost the game 64–70.[2][17]

Vaughn finished the season as the team leader in points (17.3), assists (4.2) and minutes per game (33.4),[18] ranking 5th in scoring in the Big East, 9th in assists per game and 4th in 3-point field goal percentage (a career-high 39.8%), and was named in the All-Big East First Team.[2]

Before the start of the 2008–09 season, Vaughn was selected in the preseason All-Big East Team, the only player of Cincinnati to receive a nomination in the team.[19] Vaughn was also the top scoring returning guard of the Big East.[19] Vaughn was again a member of the team's starting lineup, and made his season debut on November 16, 2008 against South Dakota, scoring 12 points in 28 minutes; with these points, Vaughn reached the 1,000 career points milestone at Cincinnati (the 45th player to do so in Bearcats history).[2][20] Vaughn came off the bench for only 1 game during the season, on December 6 against UAB, and scored 16 points in 33 minutes of play.[20] On December 13, Vaughn scored a then season-high 27 points against Xavier, including 5 3-point field goals.[20] On December 20, he played 44 minutes in an overtime win against Eastern Kentucky, scoring 20 points along with 7 assists.[20] Vaughn had a career-high 10 assists against Marquette on January 4, 2009.[20] On February 4, in a game against Notre Dame, Vaughn scored 34 points, a season high and the second best mark of his career, making 19 of 22 free throws.[2] During the Big East Tournament, Vaughn had 15 points and 4 steals against DePaul in a 57–67 loss.[20] At the end of the season he led the team in scoring (15.3 points), assists (4.7), steals (1.3) and minutes (35.8) per game,[21] and ranked 8th in the Big East in assists per game.[2] He received the second all-conference selection of his career, being named in the All-Big East Third Team.[22]

Vaughn entered his senior season as a preseason First-team All-Big East selection, and he was included in the John R. Wooden Award watchlist.[23] He made his season debut on November 16, 2009 against Prairie View A&M, scoring 15 points along with 5 rebounds.[2] On November 18, Vaughn scored 13 points against Toledo, reaching the 1,500 career points mark.[2] On December 19, in a game against Lipscomb, Vaughn had 7 assists, which made him 3rd all-time for assists made at Cincinnati, passing Oscar Robertson.[2] On January 24, 2010 he became the second player for career assists, passing Steve Logan after posting 5 assists against Louisville. On March 2, 2010 in a game against Villanova, Vaughn scored 18 points and thus surpassed the 1,800 career points mark. On March 17, during the 2010 National Invitation Tournament, Vaughn became Cincinnati's all-time leader in assists and 3-pointers made against Weber State.[2]

Vaughn finished his career with 1,885 career points, which at the time ranked him 3rd in Cincinnati history (4th as of 2020); he also ranked first in assists with 511, minutes with 4,310, games started with 123, and 3-point field goals made with 313.[2] He's the only player to have recorded at least 1,800 points and 500 assists with the Cincinnati Bearcats.[2]