Since taking leadership in 2008, Coach Hankins has steered the team from the worst in the conference to it's current #9 national ranking. Born and raised in Mt Pleasant, Iowa, Hankins' path to his desired home with the Hawkeyes included a playing career at ISU and coaching stints in Texas and at Michigan State where he led the Spartans to five NCAA births in seven years. In short, the guy is a winner and is showing folks that northern schools can be competitive in a sport where the top teams increasingly tend to come from south of the Mason-Dixon line. This is a nice read in the Daily Iowan today.