McLaughlin Resigns Men’s Basketball Post at Stonehill

Program's all-time wins leader to accept men's basketball coaching position at Northeastern

EASTON, Mass. (June 10, 2013) – Stonehill College has accepted the resignation of men's basketball head coach David McLaughlin to accept a position on the men's basketball coaching staff at Northeastern University. The announcement was made today by Brendan Sullivan, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Stonehill.

"On behalf of Stonehill, I would like to express my gratitude to David for his excellent and successful service to the College, its student-athletes, and our alumni," said Sullivan. "Over the past nine seasons, he has revitalized Stonehill basketball into a prominent program within the Northeast-10, East Region and NCAA Division II. David is a talented coach, an excellent recruiter that has taken us to the heights previously unseen in the program's history while always operating a first-class program that graduates successful men. As the winningest coach in the history of Stonehill basketball, this illustrates the tremendous loss this is for us. However, we are grateful for the strong position he leaves our program in and we wish him well in his new role at Northeastern."    

McLaughlin, a two-time Northeast-10 Conference and NABC Northeast District Coach of the Year, leaves Stonehill as the men's basketball program's all-time leader with 189 victories over nine seasons. He re-established the Skyhawks as a conference and regional power with a 189-99 (.656) overall record, including a 135-80 (.630) clip in NE-10 play. McLaughlin guided Stonehill to six 20 win seasons, featuring a program-record 27 victories during the team's 2005-06 NCAA Division II National Semifinal round run, five NCAA Tournament bids, including a school-record four-straight bids from 2008 to2012, two East Regional Championships, the program's first NE-10 Tournament championship since 1989 and the NE-10 regular season title in 2009-10.


McLaughlin won 189 games in nine seasons at Stonehill, including a pair of NCAA Regional Championships and two NE-10 titles.

"It is difficult to adequately convey my gratitude to an institution that has so greatly defined the foundation of my professional life, as well as my family life," said McLaughlin. "Combine that with the amazing relationships I have developed with many of the people within the Stonehill basketball family, and I could not have been more fortunate during my time at Stonehill. As I look back at the last nine years of being the head coach, I realize what a true privilege it was to be able to represent such a fine college, athletic department and group of alumni each day."

McLaughlin's recent program record run of four-straight NCAA Tournament bids, culminated with a second East Regional title and trip to the 2012 Division II Elite Eight in Highland Heights, Ky., where Stonehill advanced to the National Semifinal round for the second time after a 91-90 victory over No. 3-ranked West Liberty State University in the national quarterfinals. Stonehill finished the season ranked seventh nationally for scoring defense (60.0 ppg), 19th in field goal percentage defense (.401) and 21st for blocked shots per game (4.5). The Skyhawks led the NE-10 in winning percentage (.735), scoring defense, three-point field goal percentage defense (.314) and blocked shots. Prior to the NCAA Tournament run, Stonehill ended a 23-year drought by capturing its first Northeast-10 Tournament Championship since 1989 with a 73-61 triumph over UMass Lowell.

McLaughlin oversaw a program that produced 14 All-Northeast-10 Conference performers, including three first team selections. The first team picks included two-time selection A.J. Rudowitz, '10, who was also a two-time Capital One Academic All-District honoree. Sean Lowry, '12, received the NCAA Elite 89 Award for having the highest cumulative grade point average among the teams competing at the 2012 Division II Elite Eight.

McLaughlin also produced three-straight Northeast-10 Defensive Players of the Year in Randall Stallworth, '10, Daniel Heppert, '11, and Patrick Lee, '12, to highlight the program's regular place atop the NE-10 and NCAA Division II defensive charts. Three Skyhawks earned NE-10 All-Rookie Team status, including 2005-06 NE-10 Rookie of the Year Nick Smith, '09.

The 2005-06 season also marked a high point for the program, as McLaughlin's Skyhawks reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, in Springfield, Mass., for the first time in program history. Stonehill peaked at a No. 10 national ranking during the season and claimed their first Northeast-10 regular-season title since 1997-98 on the strength of a school-record 12-game winning streak. The Skyhawks dropped conference rival UMass Lowell in the NCAA East Regional title game to earn Stonehill's first regional championship, and defeated Tarleton State to reach the National Semifinals.


McLaughlin coached 14 All-NE-10 performers, including three-straight NE-10 Defensive Players of the Year, as the Skyhawks reached the NCAA Tournament five times.

McLaughlin was named Stonehill's interim head coach in January 2004 after three and a half seasons as an assistant coach, and was elevated to the full-time position later that year. In his first full season at the helm, he guided the team to a 20-8 finish in 2004-05.

Prior to Stonehill, McLaughlin served as an assistant coach at Wesleyan University for two seasons. He also spent time on the Suffolk University staff and was the head coach of the gold-medal-winning Northeast entry of the 1999 Bay State Games. McLaughlin served as a head coach at the Collegiate Basketball Invitational for four years, coaching top Division II senior players.

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

A search for McLaughlin's replacement will begin immediately.

"I am committed to finding the next head coach in a swift but diligent manner," said Sullivan. "I will pursue someone that will work tirelessly to build upon our strong tradition of excellence while ensuring the continued academic and athletic development of our student-athletes as well as the on-going involvement of our proud alumni."

Stonehill posted an 11-15 overall record in 2012-13, including a 7-15 mark in NE-10 play. Ten letterwinners will return for the Skyhawks for the upcoming season after graduating four seniors.

"I am confident in the position that the program is in," said McLaughlin. "There is a tremendous core of talent, youth, and toughness. There is a work ethic that will be the foundation, along with a very high sense of character and leadership across the board. The future is bright, and the type of young men that make up the team next year will continue to make Stonehill and the alumni proud."

With 20 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. The Skyhawks have finished in the top three in the final NE-10 Presidents' Cup standings nine straight years, winning the Cup four times, including a streak of three-straight from 2009-10 through 2011-12. This prestigious award is given to the top performing athletic school in the Northeast-10, across all sports and seasons. Stonehill has received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first two years if the program's existence of honoring programs with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. The Skyhawks have earned a 97% Academic Success Ranking (ASR) by the NCAA, which considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes, good for fifth among all NCAA Division II institutions, with nine Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked sixth in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.

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