As a kid, Rob Dengler sat in his room and listened to Bob Brooks call Iowa Hawkeyes basketball games on the radio. He’d pretend to be Steve Carfino, Mark Gannon, Greg Stokes, or Bobby Hansen watching the toy ball go through the topless wooden barrel for the game-winning buzzer-beater. 

Dengler long hoped his name would become familiar among Hawkeye fans like those he heard on the radio as a kid in the 1970s and 1980s. While he never was the Hawkeye hooper he dreamt to be, his name carries weight every time his voice echoes up the seats of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and through the speakers of TVs in his first season as Iowa men’s basketball’s public address, or PA, announcer. 

“It would be too much for my 5-year-old self to comprehend,” Dengler said. “Sometimes it’s hard for my 51-year-old self to comprehend. It’s just such a dream.”

The black and gold runs deep in the family — Dengler’s grandfather, Robert Gustafson, was a tight end in the 1940s; his mom, Linda Gustafson, was a swimmer in the 1970s; his father, Ray Dengler, was also an Iowa grad. Eventually, he and his sister, Katie, attended the University of Iowa. 

Dengler’s life started out on a farm in Walcott, Iowa, 50 minutes east of Iowa City where he lived until he was 8 years old. From there, the family moved to Rockford, Illinois. 

His Hawkeye fandom grew stronger each time an Iowa sporting event was cast on the 23-inch tube TV in the basement. 

His private school days at Keith Country Day School from third to eighth grade had Dentler thinking he’d play for the Iowa men’s basketball team someday as he dominated his competition. It was when he got to Rockford Auburn High School where the playing field was more even, though he still stuck out. 

He attended two Tom Davis-run camps at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and in the second one when he was 17 years old, he got posterized by eventual Iowa player Russ Millard — a memory he holds lightheartedly. It’s a subtle reminder that becoming a college basketball player wasn’t in the cards for him. 

“I remember the Iowa trainer was checking me to see if I was OK because I just got dunked on by 6-foot-10 [Millard],” Dengler said. “He murdered me, just dunked right over me.”

Dengler graduated from the UI in 1997 with a degree in physical education, though the job market for PE teachers was so congested that he took a job teaching math at Burlington High School in Iowa for three years before switching to Southeastern Community College for the same role.

Then came the opportunity that changed his life. 

In 2004, Southeastern was in pursuit of its third national championship in five years. KC Flemming, the team’s original PA announcer at the time, needed someone to fill in for a game, to which Dengler was 

recommended by his friend, Brian Vanderstorm, for his radio-like voice and basketball knowledge. Dengler took the opportunity, practiced in his basement for a week, called the game in front of a hot, sweaty gym with around 1,000 people, and has been in love with it ever since. 

For the next 15 years, he continued to back up Flemming whenever he was needed. And in 2019, another friend, Brian McAtee, talked to the Burlington Bees about their PA situation at the time and, again, recommended Dengler for the job, which he got. 

That same year, Western Illinois offered him a fill-in for a couple of men’s and women’s basketball double-headers, which led to opportunities with football and volleyball as well. 

“I was kind of in the midst of that, that I thought maybe I could do something for Iowa,” Dengler said. 

The person who hired him at Western Illinois, Diane Cassimire, was Dengler’s former college classmate at Iowa. They shared another friend, Kelsey Laverdiere, who is the associate athletics director, marketing & multimedia at Iowa. Cassimire helped Dengler get in contact with Laverdiere for future fill-in opportunities with the Hawkeyes, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after and cut off all sports for a brief period. 

After receiving Dengler’s résumé for five years, Iowa athletic director Scott Thompson came forward in December 2024 with three softball opportunities in the spring. 

Dengler impressed nonetheless, and when Iowa men’s basketball and gymnastics’ long-term PA announcer Greg Bentler unexpectedly passed away, Scott vouched for Dentler for both roles full-time. 

“Operationally, they had an opening, and he recommended me,” Dengler said. “That led to an audio demo, and that led to an interview, and that led to the Iowa men’s basketball job and the gymnastics job.”

For months, Dengler prepared for his first Iowa gig on Nov. 4 for men’s basketball’s matchup against Robert Morris. He practiced his starting lineup introductions in a way inspired by Ray Clay, former Chicago Bulls PA announcer during Michael Jordan’s six championship runs in the ‘90s. 

Dengler’s first time walking down the Carver steps to his sideline seat gave him goosebumps, and it continued as the teams took the court for warmups, the fans filled the seats, and the intro video played. 

Going from a gym that packs no more than 1,500 people to a pit of 10,000 seats was intimidating at first. But once he spit out that first word in the introductions, those butterflies flew away. He felt like that kid again listening to the game through the radio and hearing nothing
but voices. 

“I’m a fan with a microphone,” Dengler said. “It’s such a privilege.”

Dengler is still adjusting to covering his childhood team. And while Dengler and Bentler never formally met, he’s more conscious about carrying the torch that Bentler left behind after two-plus decades — as a PA announcer and as a person. 

“I hope to come close to being as nice as he was and as friendly and as supportive of that. Everybody loved Greg Bentler,” Dentler said. “And those are huge shoes to fill.”