CONNOR MCCAFFERY TO PLAY BASEBALL AS WALK-ON, REDSHIRTING IN BASKETBALL

Connor McCaffery, the four-star basketball recruit and son of Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, will be pursuing baseball his first year on campus while redshirting as a basketball player. He will join the school as a walk-on in both sports.

This move isn’t totally surprising. Iowa basketball’s scholarship situation is full, and if McCaffery were to take a baseball scholarship it would still count against the basketball team if he were to play for his dad.

This move indicates that McCaffery is focusing on baseball (for now) and will likely reassess his status in both sports after his first year on campus.

As we understand the redshirting rules, you have five years to play college sports, including one redshirt year. So in this scenario, McCaffery can play baseball for one year and basketball for four. OR, he could play baseball for four years, and basketball for years 2-5, if he wanted to be a true multi-sport athlete.

McCaffery is projected to get drafted late in the MLB, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot since there’s roughly 600 rounds in the MLB draft. To me, this shows McCaffery is going to test the baseball waters and figure it out from there.

It also buys time until Patrick McCaffery gets on campus. Connor has expressed interest that he wants to play with his brother, and this gives him more time to do so.

So, there you have it. We’re going to have to wait a bit for another McCaffery to hit the hardwood at Carver, but can see his stuff on the diamond immediately.