Punter took long way to Y.

PROVO — It's not uncommon for an LDS missionary to get dumped by a girlfriend at some point during his two years of service. But how many missionaries receive a "Dear John" letter from their college football team while they're away?

Well, that's what happened to punter Derek McLaughlin, who officially joined BYU's program this week.

After spending two seasons at the University of Washington and then two years on a mission to Argentina, McLaughlin has landed in Provo — the place where he feels he was supposed to be playing football all along.

When he was punting at Mountain View High in Mesa, Ariz. (the same school that produced BYU quarterback John Beck), McLaughlin averaged 47 yards per punt and was recruited by Southern California, UCLA, Michigan and Washington. But not by BYU — which puzzled him.

"Ever since I was little, I'd come up to BYU games. I went to BYU football camps," he said. "I really wanted to come here, but in high school, I didn't get anything from them. I was kind of disappointed, and I went to the University of Washington."

From the outset, McLaughlin told then-Husky coach Rick Neuheisel that he planned to serve a mission and Neuheisel assured him that he would be able to play for the Huskies, serve a mission, then return to the program. However, while McLaughlin was in Argentina, Neuheisel was fired, and Keith Gilbertson (who has since been replaced by Tyrone Willingham) took over.

"With the coaching change, coach Gilbertson didn't agree with coach Neuheisel on that, so they 'Dear Johnned' me on my mission," McLaughlin said. "I was homeless for a little while."

But not for long.

After all, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior distinguished himself in his two years as Washington's starting punter. As a true freshman, he averaged 41.6 yards per punt (the highest average by a Husky punter since 1986) and earned Sporting News second-team freshman All-America honors in 2001. He even set a school record with a 74-yard punt out of his own end zone in Washington's 31-28 victory over California.

He started as a sophomore, too, but he was hampered by an injury that season. "Not a lot of people knew that," McLaughlin said. "I strained some ligaments in my right foot during the spring game that never got all the way better. I got cortisone shots so I could keep kicking. My freshman year was pretty good but not what I wanted, though. I felt like I underachieved there."

While McLaughlin was on his mission, his family received recruiting letters from a number of schools, including Oklahoma, Georgia and, of course, BYU.