John Laub

New Haven resident John Laub has found a way to successfully combine a rewarding career as a History educator with his Fantasy Football fixation – and both blossomed as a result of his experiences at Western Connecticut State University more than 30 years ago. Laub, who grew up in Southbury and attended Pomperaug High School, said he was raised in a middle class, blended family that had four boys, all within four years of each other – so WCSU was an obvious choice.

“It was really a financial decision to attend WCSU,” Laub recalled. “My stepbrother, Tom Little, and I were the same age, and we enrolled together. We commuted in my father’s truck for our first year before rooming together at Grasso Hall.”

Initially a Finance major, Laub started to feel that a career in the business world was not what he desired, and after consultation with his father, added a minor in History. Following his graduation in 1989, he re-enrolled to pursue a Master of Arts in History.

Laub said he acquired all the classroom knowledge necessary for a career as a History teacher, but it was what he learned outside of the classroom that really set the stage for his success as an educator and also as a leader in the Fantasy Football world.

“I joined the student newspaper, The Echo, for three or four years,” Laub said. “I had the opportunity to write about the university’s sports teams and ultimately during my senior year, I became the sports editor. I also was able to broadcast basketball games as an analyst on WXCI, the campus radio station. These activities strengthened my writing ability and provided an outlet for my love of sports.”

John Laub with a CFF Kings Classic College Fantasy Football belt.

It also helped create lifelong friendships. Laub started playing Fantasy Football during his senior year at WCSU and created a league with five fellow students. Thirty-six years later, they still participate in the league together. A favorite memory, Laub said, was when he beat 15,000 opponents to win $10,000 playing Fantasy Football in 1993, and took his friends to JK’s to celebrate.

Once he became a graduate student, Laub was recruited to work in what was then called the Study Skills Lab, an early precursor to the current Writing Center on campus. Laub worked part-time even after completing his master’s degree, coaching students who needed help with study skills, research, writing and even homework.

“It was the most beneficial thing to my teaching career,” Laub said. “It forced me to work one-on-one with young adults and sharpened my ability to communicate with a diverse group of people to build trust and connection so I could help them. I would have 10 to 15 students coming to see me during a shift, and it grew me as an educator.”

Laub ultimately relocated to New Haven to work in the publishing business briefly before obtaining his Teaching Certificate and being hired to teach at the Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School in New Haven for the past 21 years. He teaches AP U.S. Government and AP U.S. History. He also has taught classes at Sacred Heart University and Gateway Community College, including African-American History: Reconstruction to Civil Rights, and The Cold War.

John Laub and Daniella Luna with their children, Linda, Ronny and Ivana.

He remembers being at Co-Op High School one day and running into university Admissions Counselor Carlton Lee, who had been a friend on campus. Lee was recruiting New Haven students to continue their studies at WCSU. “It was great to see him,” Laub said, “And I also love to hear from my former Co-Op students who continued on to WCSU and come back to tell me about all the new things on campus since I went there.”

Laub, who is married to Daniella Luna and has three children, Linda, Ronny and Ivana, enjoys living in the community in which he teaches – even though it embarrasses 15-year-old Ivana when they run into his current and former students out in public.

His celebrity extends well beyond New Haven, much to Ivana’s chagrin, when the family makes its annual pilgrimage to Canton, Ohio, to participate in the College Fantasy Football King’s Classic, where Laub is a respected commentator and has organized a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the past five years.

According to his professional Player Profile, Laub has played fantasy football for 35 seasons. He has worked as a fantasy analyst for FootballDiehards.com, where he provided weekly player rankings — including sleepers and long shots — for 23 years. For the past seven seasons, he published The Scholar’s Sheet of DraftKings Knowledge and over the past decade, he composed the Scholar’s Study Sheets: NFL Draft Prospects. Both The Scholar’s Sheet of DraftKings Knowledge and the Scholar’s Study Sheets: NFL Draft Prospects, have helped countless people gain edges in fantasy football. Laub also is the co-host of the Draft Seminar on the Rookie Big Board YouTube Channel and analyst for College Football DFS Prelock Show on Rotogrinders.

“I love teaching – it’s my career,” Laub said. “Fantasy Football is my hobby. I’ve been able to succeed at both because of the skills I gained at The Echo and at the university.”

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals, and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.