Connor McCaffery will not sign with Iowa next week
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team is expected to sign two players next Wednesday, which is the start of the early signing period.
West High senior guard Connor McCaffery will not be among the two despite being committed to play for his father since he was a freshman.
“He will not sign next week,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said of his son, who is a 6-foot-5 all-state guard and ranked as a four-star recruit by Rivals.
Fran McCaffery didn’t provide any additional details about his son’s situation.
Iowa is expected to have just two scholarships for the 2017 class. Guard Peter Jok and forward Dale Jones are the only seniors on the current team.
However, Jones is technically a junior in terms of eligibility after recently being granted a medical hardship. The Waterloo native only played in six games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
NCAA rules prohibit colleges from over-signing by more than one player. That would leave Iowa with just two scholarships at the present time.
The two scholarships will be given to 6-10 high school center Luka Garza and 6-9 high school forward Jack Nunge, both of whom are currently committed to Iowa. Garza attends high school in Washington D.C., while Nunge lives in Indiana after also having lived in Coralville.
NCAA rules prohibit coaches from commenting on a specific recruit before the recruit has signed a national letter of intent.
Connor McCaffery said he would consider joining his father’s team as a walk-on in order to make another scholarship available. Connor also wants to play baseball for the Hawkeyes. So it is uncertain how baseball would affect his long-terms plans for basketball.
Connor McCaffery earned all-state accolades this past season as a right fielder.