Connor McCaffery’s 2019 can be summed up in a word, perseverance. This comes to mind as basketball ends, he’s already with the Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team.
Connor McCaffery is the son of Iowa’s Head Basketball Coach Fran McCaffery, and while that may sound intimidating to other players because he’s the coach’s son, it’s not. Connor has had to work just as hard if not more then other players to get to where he needs to be to play on Iowas Basketball team, same goes for the Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team as well.
Coach McCaffery doesn’t recruit five-star athletes often instead finding diamonds in the rough like Coach Ferentz. Connor isn’t necessarily a diamond in the rough but he was just a three-star recruit from the state of Iowa.
The backup point guard is also one of the top players for Rick Heller’s squad.
McCaffery plays outfield and first base for the Iowa Hawkeyes on the diamond. Although some may say Connor should stick to playing basketball, they may not know his glory days in high school in 2017 were when he was a Rawlings perfect game Honorable Mention All-American as well a Perfect game central All-Region Second Team member. In 2016, he also was a Perfect game Underclass Honorable Mention, two-time First Team All-State, All-District, and All-Conference selection.
He was also an Honorable Mention All-Conference honoree as a Sophomore as well.
In McCaffery’s senior year, he hit .386 with 6 home runs, 49 RBIs, 11 doubles, 31 walks, and a .513 on-base percentage. As a Junior, he hit .407 with 8 home runs, 33 RBIs, 10 doubles, 23 walks, and a .520 on-base percentage. Even as a sophomore at one of the bigger schools in the state, McCaffery played and hit .289 with 2 home runs, 25 RBIs, and a .377 on-base percentage. McCaffery was voted the 7th best MLB prospect in the Big Ten, this is a huge reason Connor should definitely focus on Baseball.
It’s obvious that McCaffery improved as he got older and has a knack for baseball, hence the reason he was a dual-sport recruit for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Here in 2019, Connor is currently batting .224 with 11 hits in 49 at-bats.
Some season highlights for McCaffery include a three-hit game against Cal State Northridge on March 17th. Two of those three hits were doubles. He also had 7 putouts verses Clarke University on April 2nd. Back in March, McCaffery also played a doubleheader the day after the Big Ten Quarterfinals.
When you see the coach’s kid playing, you immediately think favoritism, but with the Iowa Hawkeyes that’s not the case, Coach McCaffery knows well enough his son has to work for his minutes and roster spot and Connor himself does too.
I’ve fallen victim to playing with coach’s kid or other players that coach liked and have sat on the bench. It’s not fair nor is it ethical. However, when it comes to Coach Fran, he will make his kids work just as hard as the rest of the team.
You have to applaud multi-sport athletes in college, juggling two sports, classes, and also finals. It’s a lot of responsibility to have. Connor McCaffery should be given a lot of praise for what he has accomplished in his short career as an Iowa Hawkeye, and I know he has a long way to go, but he’s got plenty of time. I, along with many other fans, will look forward to watching the McCafferys continue their legacy as Iowa Hawkeyes for many years to come.