Fran McCaffery

Fran McCaffery

Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Iowa
Record	46–46 (.500)
Biographical details
Born	(1959-05-23) May 23, 1959 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Playing career
Position(s)	Point guard
Head coaching record
Overall	297–224 (.570)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
SoCon Tournament Championship (2001) MAAC Tournament Championship (2008, 2009, 2010) MAAC Regular Season Championship (2008, 2009, 2010)

Fran McCaffery (born May 23, 1959 in Philadelphia) is an American college basketball coach and the current men's head basketball coach at the University of Iowa. He has taken four Division 1 programs to postseason tournaments, including the Iowa Hawkeyes, who reached the second round of the 2012 NIT. He is the former head of the Siena men's basketball program.

He previously served as head coach of Lehigh University and UNC Greensboro. McCaffery played college basketball for one season at Wake Forest before transferring to Penn. In his playing days, he acquired the nickname of "White Magic".

He began his college coaching career with a stint at Penn as an assistant coach. McCaffery became an assistant coach at Lehigh in 1983. He was the youngest head coach in Division I when he was promoted to head coach in 1985. Following his career at Lehigh, McCaffery spent 11 years as an assistant at Notre Dame. In 1999, he became the head coach of the UNC Greensboro Spartans. McCaffery had a 90–87 record through six seasons. He led the Spartans to the Southern Conference Championship and the NCAA Tournament in 2001.

At Siena he maintained a 100% graduation rate for players completing their NCAA eligibility. He was introduced as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 29, 2010.

Coaching career

2005–2006

In 2005, the Siena Saints were picked to finish last in preseason polls for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. However, McCaffery guided Siena to a 15–13 record. The team earned several memorable victories in the regular season, including an 82–74 win against cross-town rival Albany, and an 82–76 triumph at eventual MAAC champion Iona. The Saints clinched a first-round bye in the MAAC tournament with a 98–92 double-overtime victory over Niagara on the team's senior day. Siena's season ended with a 63–62 loss to St. Peter's in the MAAC quarterfinals.

2006–2007

McCaffery guided Siena to a 20–12 record in 2007. The Saints began the season with an 11-10 record. However, the team went on a late-season winning streak and won 9 of 10 games. Season highlights included a 76–75 double-overtime victory over rival Albany. Siena was one of the youngest teams in the conference with five underclassmen. The Saints reached the 2007 MAAC championship game and lost to Niagara 83–79.

McCaffery coached three consecutive rookies of the year in their respective leagues. Kyle Hines won the award in the Southern Conference in McCaffery's final year in UNC Greensboro. Kenny Hasbrouck captured the MAAC rookie of the year for the 2005–06 Saints, and Edwin Ubiles shared the award with Canisius' Frank Turner for the 2006–07 season.

2007–2008

On November 17, 2007, McCaffery guided Siena to a 79–67 victory over #20 ranked Stanford at the Times Union Center in Albany. The win was Siena's first over a ranked opponent since their first-round victory against the Cardinal in the 1989 NCAA tournament. Siena finished the regular season at 19–10 and 13–5. They tied with Rider for first place in the MAAC. The Saints defeated Manhattan, Loyola and Rider on their way to winning the MAAC championship and an automatic NCAA tournament bid. It was the Siena's fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and their first under the guidance of McCaffery. In March 2008, the 13th seeded Saints soundly defeated #4 Vanderbilt 83–62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region. Siena's season ended one game short of the sweet sixteen in an 84–72 loss to 12th seeded Villanova. Siena finished the season at 23–11. It was the most wins for a Siena team since the 1999-2000 season.

2008–2009

Siena was ranked highly in preseason publications entering the 2008–09 season. The Saints convincingly won their first two games against Boise State and Cornell.McCaffery guided Siena to victories in 25 of their final 30 games. Siena won games against St. Joe's, Northern Iowa, Albany and Buffalo along the way. Siena's 16 MAAC wins tied a league record for regular season wins. Siena would go on to win the MAAC championship (and clinch a second straight NCAA tournament bid) by defeating Canisius, Fairfield and Niagara. McCaffery led the Saints to the most single season wins in their Division I history and earned the 2009 MAAC coach of the year.

In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Siena defeated Ohio State 74–72 in double overtime to reach the round of 32 for the second straight season. The Saints led #1 ranked Louisville 63–59 midway into the 2nd half before losing 79–72 to end their season at 27–8. Siena finished ranked 28th in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, the school's highest ranking.

2009–2010

Siena entered the 2009–10 with the highest expectations in program history. After a slow start, the Saints won 15 straight games and 21 of 23 games to capture the school's third consecutive MAAC tournament championship, defeating Fairfield in overtime 72–65. Siena lost to Purdue 72–64 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to end their season at 27–7. McCaffery was also honored by the national coaches' association as an all-district coach.

2010-2011

Fran McCaffery talks with an Iowa student after his introduction as the new head basketball coach at The University of Iowa.

McCaffery was hired by the University of Iowa on March 28, 2010 to replace Todd Lickliter. He was introduced during a press conference and a public ceremony in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 29, 2010.

McCaffery won his first game as head coach at Iowa on November 16, 2010, when the Hawkeyes beat Louisiana Monroe, 68-40. His first conference win with the Hawkeyes came against Indiana in Iowa City on January 23. His first win versus a ranked team as the head coach of Iowa came on March 5, when Iowa defeated #6 Purdue 67-65. That win snapped a 25-game losing steak against ranked opponents for the Hawkeyes.

2011-2012

McCaffery led the Iowa Hawkeyes to 4 wins over ranked opponents - twice against Wisconsin, once against Michigan, and once against Indiana. The Hawkeyes won 3 conference road games in a season for the first time since 2006. For the second consecutive season attendance had increased for Iowa basketball games.

Postseason:

Iowa beat Illinois in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. The Hawkeyes then lost to eventual tournament champion Michigan State. At 17-16, Iowa earned a bid to the NIT postseason tournament. The Hawkeyes were seeded seventh in their region, but due to a scheduling conflict, they hosted the second seeded Dayton Flyers. Iowa won the contest 84-75, the first postseason win for Iowa since 2004. The NIT bid showed the enthusiasm building around the program, over 13,000 tickets were sold in under twenty-four hours.

During the offseason excitement built about the incoming recruiting class, one of the best in the conference. Iowa native and a member of the Wisconsin Badger Basketball team, Jarrod Uthoff transferred to Iowa. Also during the offseason Coach McCaffery signed a 7 year contract extension, worth $1.66 million per season.

2012-2013

Iowa finished the non-conference schedule with a 11-2 record. That included wins over instate rivals Iowa State and Northern Iowa. It was the best non-conference record since the 2004-2005 season, and the best by a McCaffery team at Iowa.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Lehigh (East Coast Conference) (1985–1988)
1985–1986	Lehigh	13–15	6–8	5th
1986–1987	Lehigh	15–14	8–6	T–3rd
1987–1988	Lehigh	21–10	8–6	T–4th	NCAA 1st Round
Lehigh:		49–40 (.551)	22–20 (.524)
North Carolina Greensboro (Southern Conference) (1999–2005)
1999–2000	UNCG	15–13	9–7	3rd (North)
2000–2001	UNCG	19–12	10–6	2nd (North)	NCAA 1st Round
2001–2002	UNCG	20–11	11–5	T–1st (North)	NIT 1st Round
2002–2003	UNCG	7–22	3–13	6th (North)
2003–2004	UNCG	11–17	7–9	T–3rd (North)
2004–2005	UNCG	18–12	9–7	2nd (North)
UNCG:		90–87 (.508)	49–47 (.510)
Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (2005–2010)
2005–2006	Siena	15–13	10–8	4th
2006–2007	Siena	20–12	12–6	T–3rd
2007–2008	Siena	23–11	13–5	T–1st	NCAA Round of 32
2008–2009	Siena	27–8	16–2	1st	NCAA Round of 32
2009–2010	Siena	27–7	17–1	1st	NCAA Round of 64
Siena:		112–51 (.687)	68–22 (.756)
Iowa (Big Ten Conference) (2010–present)
2010–2011	Iowa	11–20	4–14	10th
2011–2012	Iowa	18–17	8–10	T–7th	NIT 2nd Round
2012–2013	Iowa	17–10	6-8
Iowa:		46–47 (.495)	18–32 (.360)
Total:		297–224 (.570)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Accomplishments

• BCANY (Basketball Coaches Association of New York) Coach of the Year sponsored by New Balance for 2008–09 season.
• 2001 SoCon Tournament Championship
• 2008, 2009 and 2010 MAAC Tournament Championships
• 2008, 2009 and 2010 MAAC Regular Season Championships
• 2013 Gay Pride Winner (Iowa City, IA)

Personal

McCaffery and his wife Margaret have four children: Sons Connor, Patrick and Jonathan, and a daughter, Marit. McCaffery is actively involved with Coaches vs. Cancer in the Capital Region. The McCafferys are also involved with the Johnson County (Iowa City) Relay For Life. His brother Jack is a sports columnist for the Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times.

McCaffery’s wife, Margaret, was a standout women’s basketball player from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She had an outstanding college career playing at The University of Notre Dame.

External links

• Siena Biography
• McCaffery Named BCNY Coach of the Year
• McCaffery recognized by National Coaches Association
• McCaffery leaves Siena to replace Lickliter at Iowa