Dave Laughlin

Born and raised in the Hawkeye state - now living in the land of sunshine. Let's Go Hawks!!!

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

Thank you @IowaHoops for such a magical NCAA Tournament run in 2026! March will always be for the dreamers!! 🖤 💛

[Iowa Men’s Basketball @IowaHoops]

March was pretty elite. 😌

⏪ The NCAA Recap

[SSN Jay-O @Jay_3shifty]

Caitlin Clark Came Back Talking Crazy!! Drops 22 And 9 Against The Valkyries!

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@Jrkoch8 @BarstoolUIowa I'm kind of biased to what the court looked like during Dr. Tom's first year in 1986-1987! 🖤💛

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

In Ben We Trust!! 🖤💛

[Pete Thamel @PeteThamel]

NEWS: Iowa coach Ben McCollum is finalizing a new six-year contract, sources told me and @jeffborzello . McCollum led the Hawkeyes to the Elite Eight in his first season at the helm and was pursued by North Carolina during the Tar Heels’ coaching search last month.

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@houston_jacinda @AWoliczko @Journey_Renae So glad you're a Hawkeye @Journey_Renae Happy Birthday!! 🖤💛🥳🎂

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@HawkeyeBBFan Can this picture of Ben be added to the “Everybody Got Sensitive” tattoo? 😁

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

My favorite part of the whole sequence is how CC points to Ryan Rucco after making the shot..right after he had given an emphatic "YOU BET!!" in response to her three point bomb and swish! 🖤💛 💙❤️

[Indiana Fever @IndianaFever]

1 year ago today, Carver-Hawkeye Arena showed out for our game against the Brazil National Team 💛

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@GrahamDoeren @HawkeyeBBFan Does that mean this will have to re-done based on a new formula? https://t.co/O4T45zZzGo

[Ben Stan @HawkeyeBBFan]

Alright let’s have some fun!! If you can guess Iowas exact WAB (has to be xx.xx digits per NCAA team sheet on selection Sunday morning) you will win $2,000 for the 26-27 season!

Once the non conference is officially announced I will run this again for $500

Drop predictions below 👇

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@itsAntWright And it was spectacular!! 🖤💛 https://t.co/J63lcZcpw0

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@rkrager8 Xavier wasn't very good in their conference this year, but White played starter minutes and averaged 7 pts./7.3 reb. per game. Leye also played on a bad Auburn team but averaged 9.5 and 5.3. Both seem intriguing... 🤔

[Isaiah Taveras @IsaiahTaveras]

5:00 Film Study of Iowa Ball Screen Angles

Ben McCollum Ball Screen Philosophy “Complicate the simple. One screen can be that dangerous if you’re creative enough to complicate the simple.”

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@HawkeyeBBFan I can tell he's already been working on the finer points of how to impose his will on the competition. I trust that you've raised him right and he doesn't get all sensitive when he plays...like the kids down in Florida seem to do! 😁

[Iowa Men’s Basketball @IowaHoops]

2026 Kenny Arnold Spirit Award Honoree. 💛

@CameronManyawu x #Hawkeyes

[Iowa Men’s Basketball @IowaHoops]

2026 Chris Street Award Honoree. 🖤

@bennett_stirtz x #Hawkeyes

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@HawkeyeBBFan 3.99

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

This is phenomenal insight on @CoachMcCollum and his high level mastery over winning games in the trenches and in the margins. We are so fortunate to have him coaching our young men in the black and gold! 🖤💛

[Craig Doty @CoachDoty]

I coached against Ben McCollum across six seasons. We built our roster and our defensive system with the goal of taking them down. While we beat them three times in a row, they always flexed greater winning four D2 National Championships and beating us a large majority of the time. There is no team we studied more as a staff than McCollum’s teams. Here is what he does better than most coaches in the country:

*Point guard development: Ben McCollum is to college basketball what Andy Reid is to NFL football. Reid is widely considered the best QB coach developing Donovan McNabb, Alex Smith, and Pat Mahomes. If you think Bennett Stirtz is good for Drake, you should have seen McCollum’s point guard Trevor Hudgins (2x National POY) who signed and played with the Houston Rockets. Before Hudgins was National POY Justin Pitts. Simply put, McCollum always has the best point guard in the country. He develops them and they play the entire game. Stirtz leads the country at 39.4 MPG; Hudgins was at 37.7 MPG. McCollum’s methodical and controlled style of play protects them from injury and their team defense protects them from foul trouble. Stirtz was a second team all-conference player in our D2 league last season. He is now one of the best players in the country in NCAA D1 and a serious NBA prospect. No one develops PG’s better than McCollum.

*Team Defense: No one gets players, who shouldn’t be able to guard, to be better on D than McCollum. Mitch Mascari should get blown by every possession. Daniel Abreu shouldn’t be able to guard 6’10+ big men. Bennett Stirtz should be attacked off the bounce constantly to wear him out and get him in foul trouble. Opposing coaches know these things and try them. But it doesn’t work well. McCollum’s best, and most underrated strength, is coaching team defense. His guys are tough, physical, legal, smart, play for each other in the gaps, take pride in winning their individual defensive matchup, and they don’t get tired. Plus, he always has one bona fide elite on-ball defender on his roster (see Isaiah Jackson and Diego Benard) to shut down elite guards.

*Shot developer: Many college coaches don’t develop or change their player’s jump shots. Shots typically get worse for months at a time before they get better and most players are stubborn and/or not there long enough before transferring to their next school. McCollum develops shooters. One example is Mitch Mascari. Here is his shooting splits over the past five seasons:
*Fr: 7/27 3PT - .259
*So: 20/60 3PT - .333
*Jr. 56/120 3PT - .466
*Sr. 82/171 3PT - .480
*Gr. 87/214 3PT - .407 (vs. D1 closeouts)
It isn’t just Mascari either. A key reason Stirtz went from second team all-conference at the D2 level to the Larry Bird MVP of the Missouri Valley Conference is because of his improved perimeter shot. His last season in D2, Stirtz was 36/110 from 3PT (.327). This season at Drake he is 62/156 3PT (.397). He is perhaps shooting 80% from 3PT on “big shots” too. For perhaps McCollum’s best shot development job, see Ryan Hawkins, who starred for four years at NW Missouri State before transferring and being All-Big East at Creighton his final season.

*Master in-game manipulator: As Ben’s former assistant Austin Meyer says, “You’ll play the game the way Ben McCollum wants you to play.” I’ve never seen, or coached against, someone who manipulates pace the way that Ben does. He can play his point guard the entire game as a result. Most players don’t want to play this way. It’s slow, sometimes boring, it’s controlled, there isn’t a lot of freedom, and the point guard usage rate is amongst the highest in the country (I.e. the PG gets to create in this system while others don’t). However, McCollum’s innate ability to identify selfless, no-ego players during the recruiting process allows him to get the buy-in needed to operate this way and at his pace. “Press them.. just speed them up”… Good luck with that.

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

#InBenWeTrust 🖤💛

[Iowa Men’s Basketball @IowaHoops]

Let's Go Hawks! 👏

Say it with us 😁

[Joe Tipton @JoeTipton]

NEWS: Saint Mary’s 7-foot-3 transfer center Andrew McKeever has committed to Iowa, he told @On3.

The sophomore big man averaged 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 23 minutes per game.

https://t.co/bzhOfHwG3s

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@Zhoops44

[Dave Laughlin @LeftyLaughlin]

@Hassel_Chris #InBenWeTrust