Social Media Explodes Over False Tom Davis Story

My Sunday afternoon ritual of watching golf and browsing social media was interrupted this week by sad news. Former University of Iowa men's basketball coach Dr. Tom Davis had passed away. The story had been shared by several of my online friends. I began to reflect on what Davis had meant to me and so many other Iowa fans who grew up with Hawkeye basketball during the late 80s and 1990s. But here is where things get confusing. Dr.Tom Davis is still alive.

Social Media Post Claims Coach Davis Had Died

A Facebook account that goes by the name 'Hawkeye Hoops Family' posted the news about coach Davis. The story was shared over 200 times and had thousands of comments. The topic really gained steam when a TV announcer calling the UNI versus Drake basketball game on Sunday mentioned the story on the air. It turns out he, too, had been fooled.

How To Know If a Story Is Real

In this day and age of AI, fake stories like this are all too easy to fall for. Here is what I do to verify information that I see online. The first thing I did after seeing this story was to Google Dr. Tom Davis. There were NO other media outlets reporting his passing. Strange. Don't you think a huge Iowa sports story like this would be found somewhere else online?

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Secondly, look at some of the other posts by the account that shared the story. Is that page reputable? A quick scroll would have found several other posts that are ridiculous, including one that stated Kirk Ferentz was in critical condition following a car accident!

Posts like these are after one thing. Clicks. Don't fall for it. Verify a story before you share it. I'm happy to report that Dr. Tom Davis, pictured above with current Iowa coach Ben McCollum, is alive and well. Fake Iowa accounts like 'Hawkeye Hoops Family' are the ones that need to die off.