Tag: Patrick McCaffery

Jack McCaffery, the son of Iowa basketball head coach Fran McCaffery, commits to Butler

Jack McCaffery commits to Butler.

Four-star forward Jack McCaffery gave a commitment to Butler on Monday. He is the consensus top recruit in Iowa in the class of 2025.

He also has a pretty well-known father in the college basketball world.

Fran McCaffery has been the head coach at Iowa since 2010. He has taken the Hawkeyes to the postseason 11 times including seven trips to the NCAA Tournament. That alone makes the commitment of Jack McCaffery to Butler pretty interesting.

And to top things off, Butler received a commitment this offseason from Patrick McCaffery out of the transfer portal. Yup, Jack and Patrick McCaffery are brothers.

Which therefore makes them both the sons of Fran McCaffery. Crazy!

Patrick McCaffery played the first five years of his collegiate career for his father at Iowa.

Now that we got all that straight…

As for Jack McCaffery, he is the No. 73 overall recruit in the nation according to ESPN.com. According to On3, McCaffery is the No. 100 recruit in the class of 2025.

A 6-foot-8 power forward from West Senior (Iowa City, Iowa), he is an impressive shooter and rebounder who is a solid defender on and off the ball.

He moves well in transition and is a very impressive passer.

 

Jack McCaffery picked Butler over a very strong offer list that included Bryant, Utah, Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest among others.

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Iowa coach Fran McCaffery’s two sons both committed to Butler

The Butler Bulldogs landed 2025 forward Jack McCaffery, the brother of transfer portal addition Patrick and son of Iowa coach Fran McCaffery.

Among the thousands of men’s basketball players who hit the transfer portal to find a new home this offseason, few stand out quite as much as Patrick McCaffery.

McCaffery transferred from Iowa to Butler, which on its face looks like a fairly unsurprising move for the sixth year senior who averaged 8.5 points in 123 games with the Hawkeyes.

However, McCaffery is the son of Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, leaving his dad’s program after five years. The story gets even more unique with the announcement on Monday that Jack McCaffery, a top 100 recruit in the 2025 class and Patrick’s younger brother, will follow him to Butler rather than playing at Iowa for Fran.

The brothers won’t play together, unless Jack reclassifies to 2024 or Patrick gets a seventh year of eligibility, but nonetheless seeing both pick the same program – and not the one in the Big Ten with dad – is unique.

However, at least according to 247Sports, Jack McCaffery did not receive an offer from Iowa – getting offers from Butler, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest, among others.

The four-star power forward is ranked 113th in the 2025 class at 247 and 90th in the composite rankings, and mentioned coach Thad Matta’s offense and how it runs through the post as a big reason for choosing the Bulldogs, as well as the familial connection.

“My brother goes there too and he likes it a lot so it helped my decision,” McCaffery told 247. “I also built a great relationship with both Coach Joseph and Coach Matta throughout the process.”

Son of Wisconsin Badgers Big Ten rival coach enters portal

Son of Wisconsin Badgers Big Ten rival coach enters portal

The NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal has now surpassed the 1,000 athlete milestones, and a familiar face to the Wisconsin Badgers entered the portal Wednesday.

Patrick McCaffery, son of Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery, decided to move on from Iowa City after five years with the team. Fran’s other son, Connor, played under his dad for six years from 2017-2023.

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 23 minutes a game this past season. His best season came in 2021-22 when he averaged 24.2 minutes, 10.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.5 blocks on 42% shooting and 33% from 3.

The veteran will likely look for a more robust role at his next destination.

Iowa basketball went 19-15 in 2023-24 and missed the NCAA Tournament. The program has only made one Sweet 16 since 1999 and two since 1988.

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Patrick McCaffery entering NCAA transfer portal

PMac’s Iowa run is over. The Hawkeye forward is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Another Hawkeye is hitting the NCAA transfer portal.

Per Hawkeye Insider’s David Eickholt, the latest portal entry is redshirt senior forward Patrick McCaffery. The 6-foot-9, 212 pound forward averaged 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game this past season.

McCaffery shot 44.1% from the field, 31.2% from 3-point range and 78.8% from the free throw line.

“He needed to come back. He loves the game. He’s really worked hard. You look at his body and how it’s changed over the years, that’s been a more difficult process for him than it would be for other people. He needed to be able to get his body to where it is and then go perform.

“I think he also knew that this team needed leadership, and he could provide that. I’m really thrilled he’s here, and he’s doing a terrific job in all of those areas,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said of his son Patrick before the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season.

McCaffery ends his Hawkeye career with 1,044 points, 382 rebounds, 145 assists. The Iowa City West product shot 42.5% for his career from the field, 32.2% from 3-point range and 75.0% from the free throw line.

McCaffery has a final season of eligibility to use elsewhere now. He joins sophomore guard Dasonte Bowen and senior guard Tony Perkins as Hawkeyes that have entered the transfer portal this offseason.

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Iowa Hawkeyes 2023-24 Snapshot Profile: Patrick McCaffery

Patrick McCaffery returns as one of the key cogs for the Hawkeyes. How much better can he be in the 2023-24 season?

Senior forward Patrick McCaffery has a chance to be the most underrated member of the 2023-24 Iowa men’s basketball team. On a team full of young talent ready for minutes, the Iowa City native is one of the few returning veteran leaders. Few in the Big Ten are more suited to lead by example than McCaffery.

Much attention was given to Patrick last year during his leave of absence from the team due to his ongoing battles with anxiety. His courageous decision was received with an outpouring of support on social media and from his Iowa teammates, and it was awesome to see him back on the court last season.

On the court, Patrick McCaffery is much more than just a feel-good story. He’s much more than just the coach’s son, too. Many will overlook the impact he has on Iowa.

The senior forward plays a pivotal role on the court for the Hawkeyes, really acting as the glue guy for the team. He can do a little bit of everything. A bit of shooting, a bit of playmaking, and he’s just overall a really good player to have on the squad.

Now one of the go-to veteran leaders, Patrick McCaffery will look to lead the Hawkeyes back to success in the Big Ten. For one last time, here is a look at Patrick McCaffery heading into the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season.

Patrick McCaffery attending Nike Skills Academy

Iowa forward Patrick McCaffery is headed to the Nike Skills Academy next week in Portland, Ore.

Like the rest of the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team, Patrick McCaffery will be getting a little extra work in on his game this summer.

The 6-foot-9, 210 pound redshirt senior forward will be joining Iowa on its overseas trip. But, he won’t be doing so initially.

That’s because McCaffery earned an invite to and will be attending the Nike Skills Academy on the Nike campus in Portland, Ore., from Aug. 7-12.

McCaffery will have the opportunity to train alongside some of the best past and present NBA players and coaches as well as many of the nation’s other top collegiate players. During this prestigious skills development camp, McCaffery will take part in a combine experience, drills, off-court workouts, film sessions and competition.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

“I am honored and excited about the opportunity to represent our basketball program at the Nike Skills Academy. I am grateful for the opportunity and will do my best to make the most of it,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery represents the fifth Hawkeye to attend this prestigious camp since 2014. The Iowa City West product joins Aaron White (2014), Jarrod Uthoff (2015), Peter Jok (2016) and Tyler Cook (2018).

Of course, this coincides with the Hawkeyes’ foreign trip. Iowa is leaving today for its three-game international tour across France and Spain.

The plan is for McCaffery to join the rest of his teammates for Iowa’s final foreign tour date versus the Barcelona All-Stars in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, Aug. 14, at noon CT.

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Patrick McCaffery pushes back on Fran McCaffery retirement speculation

Patrick McCaffery said Jack McCaffery’s college decision has nothing to do with Fran McCaffery’s future coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery’s youngest son, Jack, revealed yesterday with 247Sports that he doesn’t intend to attend the University of Iowa.

Naturally, that sent shockwaves through Hawkeye Nation. Jack is a four-star small forward recruit in the 2025 class at Iowa City West and many had already made the connection that he would follow his brothers and Dad to the Hawkeyes.

Instead, Jack is looking into interest from Notre Dame and Ohio State at the next level.

“I don’t think I will go there. I made that up in my mind a while ago. I want to get away from home. I talked to my parents and brothers about it and I think that’s the best thing for me,” Jack McCaffery told 247Sports.

It makes sense that Jack might be searching for something different to carve out his own legacy. All the same, it’s a legitimate recruiting miss for the Hawkeyes.

247Sports rates the 6-foot-8 small forward as a four-star recruit, as the nation’s No. 51 overall player in the 2025 class, as the No. 12 small forward and as the top player from Iowa. On3 also ranks McCaffery as a four-star recruit, as the No. 68 player nationally, as the No. 17 small forward and as the No. 1 player from the Hawkeye State.

As the news broke yesterday, it had Iowa fans scrambling to make sense of all of this. One of the prevailing thoughts from Hawkeye fans was that it might signal something about Fran McCaffery’s future at Iowa.

After all, Iowa will soon have a new athletics director, Fran is entering his 14th season leading the Hawkeyes at the age of 64, and none of his sons would still be playing at Iowa the following season.

One of Jack’s two older brothers and current Hawkeye, Patrick McCaffery, pushed back against the idea that Fran’s future had anything to do with Jack’s college decision, though.

“10 toes down w my baby brother ALWAYS! this is a decision he made for himself. has nothing to do w my father retiring or going anywhere else,” Patrick McCaffery wrote on social media.

This is encouraging news for Iowa fans that were connecting the dots between Jack’s upcoming college decision and what it might mean for Fran’s future in Iowa City. Fran McCaffery has built Iowa basketball into one of the Big Ten’s best programs.

In the 2021-22 men’s basketball season, Iowa won four games in four consecutive days to capture the Big Ten Tournament. Then, this past season, Iowa tracked down its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The Hawkeyes are one of just 10 programs nationally that can boast that feat.

Individually, Fran McCaffery is nearing some Hawkeye history. Entering this season, Fran McCaffery holds an overall mark of 261-176 leading Iowa.

It also means Fran is 10 wins shy of tying Iowa’s all-time head coaching wins mark of 271. Eleven wins in 2023-24 and Fran would surpass former Hawkeye coach Tom Davis for the most wins in program history.

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PHOTOS: Iowa men’s basketball roasts Bethune-Cookman to open 2022-23 season

All five starters finished in double-figure scoring, including Tony Perkins’ game-high 16. Here were the best photos from the season opener.

Iowa wasted no time illustrating promise for the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. All five Hawkeye starters finished with double-figure scoring, including point guard Tony Perkins who finished with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting.

“Tony Perkins has aggressiveness. He has skills. He is shooting the ball outside. He is driving the ball. He always had a pull-up game. He is getting to the rim. We put the ball in his hands a little bit more, so now he has more space, and he is even more effective.

“Five assists and one turnover, that is the thing that impressed me the most. When you put him at the point, you are going to have to give it up, and he does. But he did that from the first day he got here. He said, yeah, he was a scorer, he was a scoring guard, but you can put the ball in his hands. He will just get better,” Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said of Perkins’ performance.

Filip Rebraca also recorded his 20th career double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

“He is aggressive offensively, he is aggressive in his ball-screen defense, he is aggressive in post defense. He is aggressive on the glass and running the floor. He is taking the ball, dribbling it, driving it and finishing the play, posting hard.

“Quite frankly, all the stuff he did when he was at North Dakota. He was dominant. For us he was really good. His role was different. We got to keep him here, and now he has taken charge. That’s what I wanted him to do. It was always in there, and now you’re seeing it,” McCaffery said of Rebraca.

Meanwhile, Kris Murray had 14 points, Payton Sandfort had 13 and Patrick McCaffery finished with 12.

With the win, Iowa begins its season 1-0. The Hawkeyes have now won 12 consecutive season openers, 78 of their last 83 nonconference home games and improved to 92-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points during McCaffery’s tenure.

There are plenty of takeaways and Hawkeye social media was certainly delighted to have Iowa basketball back. It was a fun night from inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Take a look back at the season debut that was through these sensational still photos.

Iowa receiving votes in inaugural 2022-23 USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

The Iowa Hawkeyes are in the receiving votes category in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

It’s going to be a new-look Iowa men’s basketball team. That much is obvious after Keegan Murray was selected No. 4 overall by the Sacramento Kings and Jordan Bohannon has officially moved on.

There’s been some transfers away from the Hawkeyes, too, but Iowa still has a strong corps of players returning. That group is led by forwards Patrick McCaffery and Kris Murray.

Patrick McCaffery returns after averaging 10.5 points per game in 24.2 minutes per game on 42.2% shooting, including 33.0% 3-point shooting. Kris Murray averaged 9.7 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game off the bench. The 6-foot-8, 220 pound forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, netted 47.9% of his field goal attempts and 38.7% from 3-point distance.

That duo headlines a group that has Iowa in the receiving votes category of the preseason USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll. In all, three Big Ten teams were ranked ahead of the season: No. 14 Indiana, No. 22 Michigan and No. 23 Illinois. Fellow Big Ten teams Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Rutgers also found themselves in the receiving votes category.

The No. 1 team in the preseason Coaches Poll is last season’s national runner-up in the North Carolina Tar Heels. After UNC, the top five looks like this: No. 2 Gonzaga, No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Kentucky and No. 5 Kansas. The rest of the preseason top-10 teams includes No. 6 Baylor, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 Creighton and No. 10 Arkansas.

The rest of the Hawkeyes’ nucleus includes guards Ahron Ulis, Josh Dix, Dasonte Bowen, Payton Sandfort, Connor McCaffery, Amarion Nimmers and Tony Perkins. Iowa also has bigs Josh Ogundele, Riley Mulvey and Filip Rebraca.

Perkins averaged 7.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game last season, while Rebraca added 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Sandfort averaged 5.0 points per game while connecting on 36.6% of his 3-pointers. Ulis delivered 3.1 points per game, while Connor McCaffery chipped in with 2.5 points per game and Ogundele added 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

“As far as our team, I’m excited about this team. I think everybody that stands there at this time says the same thing. I said this last year. I didn’t know what we had. Everybody last year was in a new role. I had never coached a team before where everybody on that team was in a new role. We ended up doing really well.

“This is a different team. We’re not as big as we’ve been, but I think we’re every bit as deep and versatile. I’m really excited about the blend of youth and experience we have. We have three starters returning. We put together, without question, the most difficult schedule that I’ve ever put in front of our team. So obviously I feel like they can handle it. I’m excited for the challenge,” Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said of his group at Big Ten Media Days.

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Iowa Hawkeyes ranked No. 21 in 247Sports’ preseason college basketball rankings

It’s almost time to tip off the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. According to 247Sports, Iowa starts as the nation’s No. 21 team.

You can tell a season is right around the corner when the market becomes flooded with preseason rankings. Everyone loves a good set of rankings, especially as they try to get a gauge on teams before they step on the court. Nothing boosts your self worth quite like correctly predicting who the top teams will be in advance!

247Sports’ Kevin Flaherty and Isaac Trotter recently took their hand at predicting the field, releasing their college basketball preseason rankings. Coming in as the 21st ranked team in the country is the reigning Big Ten Tournament champion in Iowa.

This could be one of Fran McCaffery’s better defensive teams, and if Kris Murray makes the expected leap to All-Big Ten caliber player, the scoring will be there as well. Patrick McCaffery, Tony Perkins and Payton Sandfort can all put the ball in the basket. – 247Sports.

Iowa is one of only three Big Ten schools featured on the list, Illinois ranked 15th with Indiana a place behind.

The Associated Press also only ranked three Big Ten teams in their initial top 25, notably leaving Iowa on the outside looking in. According to the AP voters, Indiana is the highest-ranked Big Ten team at No. 13, followed by No. 22 Michigan and No. 23 Illinois.

It will once again be a tough competition for the conference crown, but it seems the national media is not expecting a national champion to come from the Big Ten this season.

There is a lot of projection in regards to Iowa this upcoming season, making it understandable why they are a bubble top-25 team heading into the season. Of course, the notable departure is All-American forward Keegan Murray. The fourth overall pick by the Sacramento Kings, Murray would’ve been a National Player of the Year most other seasons.

A lot of pundits are projecting twin brother Kris Murray to fill his brother’s shoes as the star of the team, but, of course, that is still just a projection for now. Murray is following a similar career arc to his brother Keegan, performing really well when given a chance at extended playing time last season. We will have to see if he can handle the limelight as the true No. 1 option for Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery.

The other biggest projection, as Kevin Flaherty breaks down for Hawkeye Insider and 247Sports, is the team’s defense.

Fran McCaffery’s bunch lost All-American Keegan Murray, who likely would have been National Player of the Year in a number of other seasons. But he brings back an experienced roster from a team that appeared to figure things out defensively as the season went on, something that could make this 2022-23 bunch better than its predecessors.

Iowa has not had a top 70 defense in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency since the 2015-16 season, and if the Hawkeyes can find a way to keep the offensive train rolling while buffing up on the defensive end, Iowa could compete for a Big Ten title. Iowa certainly appears to boast plenty of firepower. – Flaherty, 247Sports.

That progression on the defensive side of the court is probably the biggest key for Iowa in 2022. While the team loses Keegan Murray, they still return a lot of experienced players who can put the ball in the hoop. Fourth-year forward Patrick McCaffery averaged a hair over 10 points per game last year, and is getting some breakout buzz in his own right ahead of the season.

Payton Sandfort showed a lot of scoring potential off the bench last year, especially as a shooter hitting 36% of his 3-point attempts. You can go down the roster list and find potential breakout candidates: Kris Murray, Patrick McCaffery, Dasonte Bowen, etcetera.

There are a lot of things to be excited about with this team, but a ton to prove as well. They’ll have plenty of opportunities to show why they’re a top team right away, with Seton Hall, Clemson, and Duke scheduled early in the season.

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