Iowa basketball’s Class of 2019 has officially been sent into gear, as a familiar face announced his commitment to the Hawks via Twitter on Thursday evening.
it may come as a big surprise, but i have decided to commit to play for my father at the University of Iowa‼️ go hawks #hawkeyenation pic.twitter.com/2gx9QPXi4z
— Patrick McCaffery (@patrickmccaff22) October 5, 2017
That’s right, folks. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Fran McCaffery’s middle son has declared his intent to follow his elder brother Connor’s lead and play for his father at Iowa. The 6’8”, 180 lb. forward is ranked a composite four-star by 247, the 36th ranked recruit in the Class of 2019, and the top high school player in the state of Iowa, but teams wouldn’t touch him with a 10-foot pole - he received no scholarship offers outside of Iowa’s, likely because coaches didn’t want to waste their efforts recruiting a kid who was as sure a bet as they come to play for his father.
Looking at the tape, he’s your stereotypical Fran recruit, particularly from a talent standpoint. He’s a 6’8” slasher, but you can see that even as sophomore, he had a pretty good looking jumper with a quick release. An easy and quick comparison would be former Hawkeye Jarrod Uthoff, but a fiery and more athletic one. Take a quick look at his Twitter, and it’s evident that he’s cut from the same cloth as Fran. Maybe most impressive in this mixtape, however, is his passing ability and vision - even has a sophomore, he was making that extra pass to spring the easy basket when teams went all in on stopping him, and that only figures to improve as he gets older.
NEW: Patrick McCaffery Sophomore Mixtape! 6'7 SF Is The Top Prospect In Iowa! (VIDEO) https://t.co/pKOdZ9FE8Z pic.twitter.com/WBPPisTICf
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) March 20, 2017
After the commitment of McCaffery, Iowa has two scholarships available in 2019. It’ll be interesting to see how they use those - will they look to add more pieces, or will they choose to use those on walk-ons? Connor McCaffery is currently on the roster as a walk-on, while Class of 2018 guard C.J. Fredrick will join the program as a walk-on. Pat McCaffery is also said to be recruiting highly touted players to Iowa to join him, so it’s not out of the question that the Hawkeyes make a splash with a big name recruit sometime soon.
Welcome aboard, Patrick. You’ll look great in black and gold.