AH podcast: Fran McCaffery addresses multiple topics during 30-minute interview
IOWA CITY, Iowa – There never is a dull moment when Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery is your guest and that was certainly the case on Wednesday.
McCaffery was our guest on the Allhawkeyes/KCJJ radio show and podcast and he spent 30 minutes addressing multiple topics, including his personal crusade to raise money for cancer research, the search for a new assistant coach and the state of big-time college basketball.
As usual, McCaffery spoke candidily about each topic, especially in regard to how cancer has impacted his life.
Both of his parents died from colon cancer and his son, future Iowa basketball player Patrick McCaffery, had a malignant tumor removed from his thyroid about five years ago.
Fran McCaffery said there is a chance that Patrick McCaffery, a 6-foot-8 incoming freshman forward, could be redshirted next season. It will depend mostly on how Patrick handles the transition to college from a physical standpoint.
Fran McCaffery also updated his search for a new assistant coach, saying that the final candidate will be interviewed later this week. McCaffery is looking for a replacement for Andrew Francis, who recently resigned to become an assistant coach for California.
Francis is the first assistant coach to leave Iowa in nine seasons under Fran McCaffery.
McCaffery also addressed the recent roster moves in which three players have left his team since the end of the season. Senior guard Maishe Dailey was the first to leave, followed by forward Tyler Cook and shooting guard Isaiah Moss.
Dailey announced that he will transfer to Akron to play his final season, while Cook declared for the 2019 NBA Draft as a junior. Cook also received an invitation to the NBA Combine after having performed well in two pre-combine tryout games on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-5 Moss is leaving Iowa as a graduate student and that will allow him to play play next season. Moss reportedly has narrowed his list of schools to Arkansas, Kansas, Oregon and Arizona State.
McCaffery praised all three players and said he understands why all three of them left Iowa.
He was expecting the 6-9 Cook to only play for three seasons at Iowa and he said Dailey and Moss wanted to play a more significant role.
McCaffery addressed John Beilein's decision to resign as the Michigan coach to become the head coach for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers. McCaffery had high praise for Beilein, who led Michigan to two NCAA Final Four appearances during 12 seasons.
But McCaffery also expressed concern over the scandal and corruption that has rocked big-time college basketball from a recruiting standpoint. He acknowledged that there are some problems with the AAU environment, but McCaffery also thinks that AAU basketball gets blamed too much for the problems.
The only problem with this interview is that it had to end.
We really appreciate Fran McCaffery giving us the time and think you'll really enjoy hearing from the head Hawk.
McCaffery's interview starts approximately one hour into the 90-minute podcast.