Connor McCaffery keeping busy

While some high school prospects are busy, they probably don't hold a candle to the schedule that Connor McCaffery is trying to keep these days. Between his summer commitments to basketball and playing baseball for Iowa City West High School, the junior to be has been in the gym or on the diamond just about every day and that schedule will continue into July.

This weekend the 6-foot-5 guard in the Class of 2017 and Iowa commit has been playing baseball, getting into the gym to work on his basketball skills, and he played several games with his Iowa City West teammates at the annual Justin Sharp Shootout at Rock Island High School in Illinois.

The Trojans wrapped up their third championship in the Sharp Shootout on Saturday with three wins, including McCaffery making a buzzer beater in the semifinals to beat the host Rocks.

"It's been a good spring and summer so far," McCaffery said Saturday afternoon. "I've had plenty of these tournaments with West and played AAU with the Barnstormers and the All Iowa Attack, and now baseball has started up. I just went to the Elite 100 camp too, so I have been busy."

The Nike Elite 100 camp recently took place in St. Louis and McCaffery elevated his status as one of the top prospects in the Class of 2017 with his play on the court. Last year following his freshman year, McCaffery attended the camp, which features the top underclassmen in the country. This time around he felt he played at a higher level.

"I thought I played better this year and fit in a little better this year. I scored more and I was bigger physically, so I could do more of what I like to do," he said. "My coach there said he wants me to shoot it more and be more aggressive in that area and I would agree that's an area I could improve in."

McCaffery is more a traditional point guard on the court. He looks to get his teammates involved and move the ball, but he knows he is also going to have to develop more of a scoring mindset at times as well.

"It's more of a mindset. I try to play more with the idea of moving the ball and setting other guys up and lead the team. It's just a different type of mindset that I have to have at times."

The camp is St. Louis also provided the opportunity for McCaffery to become a bit of a recruiter for the Hawkeyes and because parents are allowed to attend the event to watch their son play, it also allowed Fran McCaffery to evaluate prospects on his son's team and those playing against him as well.

"I had a lot of guys that were on my team that I have been texting with Christian Negron, Theo John, and Dante Porter, I established a good relationship with them and my dad got to watch them a little bit more because he could watch when I was playing."

This summer, Connor has also welcomed a new teammate to the Iowa City West basketball team, his younger brother, Patrick McCaffery. The younger McCaffery is already 6-foot-6 and still growing as he enters his freshman year of high school and his big brother has enjoyed having him on the team this summer.

"I like having him on the team a lot. It wasn't too strange because we play together in other settings, but it's different with the high school team," Connor McCaffery said. "I love getting the ball to him because he can really shoot it and finish above the rim on the break. He's really getting better with each game that he plays with us and he's getting more comfortable. He's going to help us a lot this season."

Patrick McCaffery is already considered the top player in the state of Iowa in the Class of 2019 and one of the top prospects in the Midwest. He will likely make a verbal commitment to Iowa sometime in his freshman year of high school.

The month of July will continue to be busy for Connor McCaffery, playing AAU tournaments with the Iowa Barnstormers and possible with the All Iowa Attack 16's team at the prestigious Peach Jam event, along with continuing to play right field for Iowa City West baseball team.