McCaffery focused on hoops, not hype
If you are a top prospect, the first day that college coaches can officially contact you prior to the start of your junior year is a day where your phone never stops buzzing.
That wasn’t the case for Patrick McCaffery. Ranked by Rivals.com as the #23 player in the Class of 2019, his phone had one single message, from Iowa assistant Kirk Speraw. McCaffery was at the NBA Players Association Top 100 camp with 27 other 2019 prospects and their phones were blowing up.
“My roommate was Tyrese Maxey (Ranked #21 in 2019 by Rivals.com) and his phone was blowing up all night. He was confused because my phone wasn’t ringing. Same thing with all the other 2019, guys like Matthew Hurt, their phone were always blowing up and I was just chilling out,” McCaffery said.
Patrick McCaffery is of course the son of Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery and as such, other coaches in college basketball appear to have decided that it wouldn’t be worth the time or effort to recruit him.
To his credit, Patrick McCaffery doesn’t seem bothered by the lack of attention. He remains uncommitted and his only scholarship offer thus far came from his father. He also doesn’t appear overwhelmed by the fact that his national ranking has shot up this spring.
He made a leap up Rivals.com’s rankings earlier this spring and now ESPN.com has him as a top 30 in the Class of 2019 and is now on the cusp of being considered a five star prospect.
“Rankings are just a number, so they don’t really mean a whole lot. Once you get to college, it all changes and I know that. Being ranked in high school doesn’t get you on a draft board for an NBA team.”
McCaffery’s focus right now is about getting better. After an outstanding April on the court with the Iowa Barnstormers AAU program, he’s had a few minor setbacks in the past two months. First there was a broken finger that put him out for about a month and then he banged up his elbow at the NBA camp.
It’s all good now for the junior to be. He’s was back on the court on Friday morning at the Justin Sharp Shootout in Rock Island, IL with his Iowa City West teammates and he’s looking to continue to improve and get better after facing the best players in the country last weekend in Virginia at the NBA Players Camp.
“It was definitely a great experience being there and I learned a lot,” he said. “I’ve never been at a camp with so many great players and athletes. It showed me that I need to continue to get stronger, tighten up my ball handling, get better shooting off the dribble, and be quicker with my decisions.”
As you might expect, basketball never stops for the 6-foot-8 forward. On Sunday he heads out to Los Angeles with fellow Barnstormers Joe Wieskamp and Joey Hauser for an Adidas Nations event. Then the start of the July AAU circuit begins with events in South Carolina, Kansas City, and concluding in late July with the Adidas Championships in Las Vegas.