Fran McCaffery

Position: Head Coach Experience: Third Year Alma Mater: Penn, 1982

Coach McCaffery Photo Gallery

In his first two years as the University of Iowa head men's basketball coach, Fran McCaffery has brought enthusiasm and excitement back to the Hawkeye basketball program. After 16 seasons as a head coach, he has posted a record of 280-214 (.567).

McCaffery orchestrated the fourth best improvement after his second season in Iowa history after coaching the Hawkeyes to 18 wins and an NIT bid. Iowa improved by seven wins from 2011 to 2012, which was the third best turnaround by a Big Ten team this season. Additionally, McCaffery guided Iowa to four more Big Ten victories in 2012 than a year ago, which is the best improvement for an Iowa squad since 1994 to 1995.

Iowa's NIT bid was its first postseason action since 2006 and after beating Dayton 84-75, the win was the program's first in the postseason since 2003. Over 13,000 energized Hawkeye fans bought tickets on one-days-notice for the NIT home game, which was the highest attended NIT game of 2012.

McCaffery was one of only four Big Ten coaches to record four wins over ranked opponents in 2012, and the only one to accomplish the feat with an unranked team.

The positive steps McCaffery has taken the Iowa men's basketball program in only two seasons is par-for-the-course for a coach who has demonstrated his ability to rebuild programs. His energy, work ethic, and coaching and recruiting ability have this program on track to returning to national prominence. Fans have flocked back to Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena the past two seasons to watch the Hawkeyes; Iowa's attendance has increased by more than 20 percent since 2010.

McCaffery continues to get the most of his talent, coaching Matt Gatens and newcomers Melsahn Basabe, Bryce Cartwright and Aaron White to all-Big Ten status the past two seasons.

McCaffery, who has nearly three decades of collegiate basketball coaching experience, was named the University of Iowa's 22nd head men's basketball coach on Monday, March 29, 2010. McCaffery, 53, came to Iowa after spending five successful seasons at Siena.

McCaffery's five years at Siena have been the best in its 70-year history. He led the Saints on an incredible run that ended with three straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. In so doing, Siena became the only program in the country to win its regular season and postseason title 2008-2010.

McCaffery's Saints owned a 112-51 record in his five years with the program. After orchestrating the fifth greatest turnaround in Division I play his first year, McCaffery led Siena to a 20-win season and a MAAC Championship game appearance in his second. In 2007-08, Siena took its biggest step forward under his direction, earning the MAAC regular-season and tournament championship, as well as an NCAA Tournament first round win over Vanderbilt. In 2008-09, Siena repeated the feat, winning the regular-season title outright before capturing the tournament crown. The Saints went on to defeat Ohio State 74-72 in double overtime in one of the tournament's most exciting games.

In 2010, McCaffery led Siena to its fourth straight 20-win season, something never before achieved in program history. Siena ran away with the league title, clinching the No. 1 seed in the tournament on Feb. 8 with four conference games remaining. The Saints came from behind in each of their three MAAC Tournament games, culminating with a 72-65 overtime win against Fairfield in the MAAC Championship. Siena's bid for a third consecutive NCAA Tournament first round victory was ended by No. 4 seed Purdue in Spokane, Wash. Down 15 points with five minutes left, the Saints rallied to within three points with one minute remaining, but eventually fell 72-64. For his efforts, he was named the NABC District I Coach of the Year.

The 2009 MAAC Coach of the Year is the third winningest coach, by percentage, in league history (68-22, .756). He is the only coach to guide a MAAC program to two NCAA Tournament wins.

In 2008, McCaffery became just the 31st coach (15th active) to take three different programs to the "Big Dance", and he is the first to do so with three programs from one-bid leagues (conference's that sent just one team the year his program advanced). He also boasts a 100% graduation rate among student-athletes he has recruited who have exhausted their eligibility during his tenure.

In 2008-09, the Siena program enjoyed unprecedented success. McCaffery challenged the Saints with the most difficult schedule in program history and Siena responded by equaling a program-record with 27 wins. For the second straight year, the Saints captured the hearts of college basketball fans across the country by advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a breathtaking 74-72 double-overtime win over Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio. In the second round, Siena nearly scored an upset of epic proportions, leading top overall seed Louisville late in the second half. Siena became a household name as the team performed against the country's elite under the spotlight of 10 nationally televised games. Siena claimed its second straight MAAC Tournament title and finished the season ranked 28th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and 19th in the final RPI. The Saints received votes in the Associated Press top-25 poll eight times and in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll six times during the season.

The 2007-08 season will also go down as one of the most memorable in Siena basketball history. The regular-season featured a home win over No. 20 Stanford, a third straight victory over cross-town rival Albany before over 13,000 fans in the annual Albany Cup and a Bracket Busters win at WAC Champion Boise State. The Saints also rallied to earn a share of the MAAC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the MAAC Tournament with late season wins at contenders Rider and Marist, as well as a Senior Day home victory over Niagara. But it was Siena's postseason run that would turn the season into a breakthrough year.

After rallying from 17 points down in a semifinal win over Loyola, Siena pounded Rider in the MAAC title game on its home floor to earn the MAAC's automatic bid. Less than two weeks later, McCaffery put together the perfect game plan and Siena led from start to finish in an 83-62 victory over Vanderbilt. Many considered the victory the greatest in school history, challenged at the time only by the program's 1989 upset of Stanford in the NCAA first round. Despite a second round loss to Villanova, McCaffery and the Saints had made a statement the college basketball world could not ignore: Siena Basketball had arrived.

McCaffery inherited a depleted Siena team that was picked last in the 10-team MAAC in 2005-2006. Instead, the Saints finished conference play in fourth place, earning a bye to the quarterfinals of the MAAC Tournament.

Siena showed steady improvement under McCaffery's tutelage in 2006-2007, posting a 20-12 overall record and tying for third place in the MAAC with a 12-6 finish. McCaffery's Saints were the highest scoring team in the league, and they peaked at the right time, winning seven of their last eight regular-season games and advancing to play for the league championship with a semifinal upset of top-seed Marist.

McCaffery orchestrated the turnaround with stellar recruiting and bold vision. His first recruit - senior Kenny Hasbrouck - graduated as the most important player in program history. He was named MAAC Rookie of the Year as a freshman, MAAC second team and all-Tournament team as a sophomore, collegeinsider.com Mid Major Player of the Year, MAAC first team and MAAC Tournament MVP as a junior and MAAC Player of the Year, MAAC Tournament MVP, NABC All-District and MAAC first team as a senior. He signed an NBA contract with the Miami Heat after a successful stint with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League.

His second class (first full class) is widely regarded as the best in program history. Edwin Ubiles, Alex Franklin and Ronald Moore finished their four-year careers with a 97-38 (.719) overall record, three MAAC Championships in four title game appearances, three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two NCAA Tournament First Round victories. Ubiles is a two-time MAAC first team, NABC All District first team and MAAC Tournament team selection and the 2007 MAAC co-Rookie of the Year. Alex Franklin, a two-time NABC All District selection, earned 2008 and 2009 MAAC second team and MAAC Tournament team honors. He won the 2010 MAAC Player of the Year award (Siena's second straight) and the 2010 MAAC Tournament MVP. Ronald Moore, the pulse of the team, earned 2009 MAAC second team and 2010 MAAC first team honors as well as a spot on the 2010 MAAC Tournament team. He became the MAAC's all-time assists leader in the 2010 MAAC Championship game, surpassing Marist's Jared Jordan (813).

In total, four Saints were named to either the first or second All-MAAC team in 2009, newcomer Kyle Downey was an All-Rookie selection and Clarence Jackson was named MAAC Sixth Man of the Year.

McCaffery was introduced as Siena's 14th head men's basketball coach on April 1, 2005. For over 20 years, he has enjoyed great success coaching Division I basketball and developing student-athletes on and off the court. McCaffery has recruited and coached several players who have gone on to play basketball professionally, some at the highest level.

McCaffery took over at Siena from UNC-Greensboro, where he posted a 90-87 record in six seasons. In his first year at the helm, Greensboro compiled a 15-13 record overall and a 9-7 Southern Conference mark, good for third place in the North Division. It was the 18th-most improved record nationally among NCAA Division I teams.

In McCaffery's second season, he guided the Spartans to unprecedented heights with a 19-12 record and the 2001 SoCon Tournament Championship. The Spartans defeated Chattanooga, 67-66, in the finals and received the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The following year (2001-2002) McCaffery led the Spartans to their first 20-win season since joining the conference. It marked the first time the program claimed a share of the SoCon North Division title as well. After falling to eventual tournament champion Davidson in the conference tournament semifinals, the Spartans were awarded a berth into the 2002 NIT, where they lost to eventual champion Memphis.

In his final year in Greensboro, McCaffery brought the Spartans to the brink of the NCAA Tournament before a SoCon Championship game loss to Chattanooga. He led UNCG to a victory over Davidson in the semifinals, defeating a team that had been 16-0 in conference play. A big part of that success was SoCon Freshman of the Year Kyle Hines. Hines set UNCG and SoCon records for blocked shots, and also broke several other UNCG single-game and freshman single-season marks.

McCaffery spent the 11 years prior to his arrival at Greensboro at the University of Notre Dame as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, working on the staffs of Richard "Digger" Phelps and John MacLeod.

Among the players he recruited to play for Notre Dame were Pat Garrity, CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in 1998, and Troy Murphy, the Big East Player of the Year in 2000 and an eventual first-round NBA draft pick. Garrity was also a first-round NBA draft pick and the Big East Player of the Year in 1997. In addition to Murphy and Garrity, McCaffery was involved in recruiting NBA First Round picks LaPhonso Ellis (1992 Draft, #5 Denver), Monty Williams (1994 Draft, #24 New York) and Ryan Humphrey (2002 Draft, #19-Utah Jazz).

He helped the Irish to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1989 and 1990. Notre Dame reached the NIT finals in 1992, losing to Virginia in overtime, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the event in 1997.

At 26, McCaffery was the nation's youngest Division I head coach when he was hired Sept. 11, 1985, at Lehigh. McCaffery capped his three-year tenure with the Engineers with a 21-win season and an NCAA berth in 1988.

In three seasons as head coach at Lehigh, he compiled a 49-39 overall record and guided the team to the NCAA Tournament in 1988. At the time he was the youngest head coach to reach the NCAA Tournament. His Lehigh teams had two winning seasons in three years and the 1987-88 squad's 21-10 record remains the best in program history. Lehigh had just four winning seasons in the 55 years prior to his arrival.

McCaffery was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Lehigh from 1983-85 and helped the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1985. As recruiting coordinator, he helped sign Darren Queenan '88, who remains Lehigh's all-time leading scorer. Queenan was second in the nation in scoring in 1988, and went on to play in the USBL.

McCaffery was assistant varsity coach and head sub-varsity coach at his alma mater, Pennsylvania, during the 1982-83 season. At Penn, he worked for Craig Littlepage, who is now the director of athletics at the University of Virginia.

McCaffery lettered three years as point guard on the men's basketball team at Pennsylvania as one of the first transfers to play for the Quakers. He earned a bachelor of science degree from The Wharton School of Finance and Commerce in 1982. In 1985 he received his master's degree in education from Lehigh.

In three seasons as a player he helped lead Penn to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and Ivy League titles and one berth in the NIT. As a senior in 1981-82 he led the Ivy League in steals and assists and was voted the team's most inspirational player.

Recruited as the successor at point guard to Skip Brown at Wake Forest, McCaffery played one season at Wake Forest, 1977-78, helping the Demon Deacons to a 19-10 record. Nicknamed "White Magic," he started 11 of 28 games as coach Carl Tacy's team finished runner-up in the ACC Tournament to eventual NCAA runner-up Duke. Wake defeated North Carolina twice in three meetings and won five of the eight games it played at the Greensboro Coliseum.

McCaffery, a Philadelphia native who attended LaSalle High School, and his wife Margaret have four children: sons, Connor, Patrick and Jonathan and a daughter, Marit. The McCaffery's have been actively involved in Coaches vs. Cancer and American Cancer Society's Relay For Life.