Stonehill College

Two-time NABC Northeast District and Northeast-10 Conference Coachof the Year David McLaughlin is in his tenth season as Stonehillhead men’s basketball coach.

He has re-established the Skyhawksas a conference and regional power with a school-record  189victories in his first ten seasons, including six 20 win seasonsand a program-record 27 wins during the team’s 2005-06 NCAADivision II National Semifinal round run. In addition to leadingthe Skyhawks to a 189-99 record, he has guided the program to fiveNCAA Tournament bids, including a school-record four-straight bidsfrom 2008 to2012, two East Regional Championships, theprogram’s first NE-10 Tournament title since 1989 and theNE-10 regular season title in 2009-10.

His recent program record run offour-straight NCAA Tournament bids, culminated with a second EastRegional title and trip to the Division II Elite Eight in HighlandHeights, Ky., where Stonehill advanced to the National Semifinalround for the second time before being defeated by eventualnational champions Western Washington University. The Skyhawksposted a 91-90 victory over No. 3-ranked West Liberty StateUniversity in the national quarterfinals, edging a Hilltoppers teamthat entered the game averaging a Division II-best 102.8 points pergame. Stonehill finished the season ranked seventh nationally forscoring defense (60.0 ppg), 19th in field goal percentage defense(.401) and 21st for blocked shots per game (4.5). The Skyhawks ledthe NE-10 in winning percentage (.735), scoring defense,three-point field goal percentage defense (.314) and blockedshots.

Stonehill ended a 23-year droughtby capturing its first Northeast-10 Tournament Championship since1989 with a 73-61 triumph over UMass Lowell. The Skyhawks, who haddropped four-straight NE-10 Tournament games leading into thetournament, were seeded third in the event and opened with a homewin over Merrimack College, before hitting the road to edgesecond-seeded Adelphi University in the semifinals. Senior PatrickLee earned NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors, marking thethird-straight year a Stonehill player received the recognition,and he was joined on the All-Northeast-10 teams by Brian Hamor, whoearned second team honors. Senior Sean Lowry also received the NCAAElite 89 Award for having the highest cumulative grade pointaverage among the teams competing at the Division II EliteEight.

He led the 2009-10 team to appearances in the NCAA East Regionaland NE-10 postseason tournaments with a 24-6 overall record,including a 20-2 mark in conference play. The Skyhawks earned theirfirst-ever #1 seed in the East Regional tournament, advancing tothe semifinal round on their home court. McLaughlin was voted theNE-10 Coach of the Year for the second time in his seven-yearcareer, and had two players, A.J. Rudowitz ‘10 and RandallStallworth ‘10, named to the All-Conference team, withStallworth also collecting NE-10 Defensive Player of the Yearaccolades.

In 2008-09, Stonehill returned tothe NCAA Tournament after a two-year hiatus, finishing with a 21-9overall record and a fourth-place finish in the Northeast-10regular season standings. Along the way, the Skyhawks reappeared inthe national rankings, rising as high as #10, and snappedBentley’s Division II-record 42-game home winning streak.Rudowitz became the team’s first All-Conference first teamhonoree since the 2005-06 season, and Matt Hall ‘09 wasselected to the third team.

 The 2007-08 Skyhawks won 18games and advanced to the NE-10 tournament semifinals, upsettingfourth-seeded Pace on the road in the quarterfinal round. Stonehillclaimed four wins that season over teams that advanced to the NCAATournament, and posted a strong showing in a 76-72 defeat tonational #3 Grand Valley State. Stonehill went 16-12 and qualifiedfor the NE-10 postseason tournament in 2006-07, and saw Nick Smith‘09 selected to the All-Conference second team, and Rudowitznamed to the All-Rookie squad.

The 2005-06 season marked a highpoint for the program, as McLaughlin’s Skyhawks reached theNCAA Division II Final Four for the first time in program history.Stonehill peaked at a #10 national ranking during the season andclaimed their first conference regular-season title since 1997-98on the strength of a school-record 12-game winning streak. TheSkyhawks dropped conference rival UMass Lowell in the NCAA EastRegional title game to earn Stonehill’s first regionalchampionship, and defeated Tarleton State to reach the Final Four,where they fell to eventual national champion Winona State.

McLaughlin was honored as theNortheast Regional Coach of the Year by National Association ofBasketball Coaches, and earned his first NE-10 Coach of the Yearselection. He had four players earn postseason recognition from theconference as well, including All-Conference first team selectionMarquis Taylor ‘06, third team selections Sean Nelson‘06 and current assistant coach Chris Kraus ‘06, andAll-Rookie honoree Nick Smith ‘09.

McLaughlin was namedStonehill’s interim head coach in January 2004 after threeand a half seasons as an assistant coach, and was elevated to thefull-time position later that year. In his first full season at thehelm, he guided the team to a 20-8 finish.

Prior to Stonehill, he served as anassistant coach at Wesleyan University for two seasons, where hecoordinated recruiting for the Cardinals and assisted in scoutingand the development of strength and conditioning programs. He alsospent time on the Suffolk University staff and was the head coachof the gold-medal-winning Northeast entry of the 1999 Bay StateGames. McLaughlin has also served as a head coach at the CollegiateBasketball Invitational for the past four years, coaching topDivision II senior players.

McLaughlin was a four-yearletterwinner at Colby College, graduating in 1997 with a degree inhistory and going on to earn his Master of Education from Suffolkin 1999. In May 2000, McLaughlin earned partial certification fromthe National Strength and Conditioning Association and is a memberof the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the NSCA.

David and his wife Jenna, a formersoccer All-American at Colby, reside in Easton with their threechildren.

Career Records