Iowa basketball: Five new faces will join Hawks roster next season

Patrick McCaffery

Out of everyone on this list, I am most excited about the arrival of Fran’s second oldest son Patrick McCaffery. As it stands currently, McCaffery is a four-star recruit and rated as the 71st best player in the nation. His composite score of .9717 is so good that it places him as the fifth-best recruit of all-time in Iowa basketball history, just behind stud freshman Joe Wieskamp and star forward Tyler Cook.

McCaffery is a tall (6’8”) athletic forward who can handle the ball and can cause fear with his shot, but the biggest knock on him is his size. At just 175 pounds, does he have enough mass to withstand the rigorous Big Ten Conference schedule?

That’s what remains to be seen.

If he can get a bit of weight, I find it difficult that Fran would keep him on the bench. Much like Joe Wieskamp, he could be a huge mismatch weapon as a freshman. If Iowa wants to go tall, they can put McCaffery at the 3, Wieskamp at the 2, and the older McCaffery at the 1. If they want to go small, they can put Patrick at the 4 allowing them to maintain height but keep up with smaller, faster lineups.

For the Iowa basketball team to make a run next year, it would be immensely beneficial to have both Patrick and Joe Toussaint available and making an impact.