Iowa recruit Connor McCaffery will redshirt in basketball, play baseball immediately
Matthew BainIOWA CITY, Ia. — Connor McCaffery cleared some things up Friday morning.
The Iowa basketball and baseball recruit tweeted that he would redshirt his freshman season of basketball and play baseball immediately in his first season on campus. He will be a freshman at Iowa starting in the 2017-18 school year.
"(Iowa baseball) coach (Rick) Heller and my Dad (Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery) have a great plan in place," McCaffery wrote. "I thought this was the best opportunity for me in both sports considering I still love both and wanted to continue playing both at a higher level."
He wrote he will not be on scholarship for either sport next year. Iowa doesn't give children of university employees free tuition, so McCaffery will pay full tuition — minus any academic scholarships he might receive.
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McCaffery will play baseball for Iowa City West this summer before joining Iowa basketball and baseball for practice.
McCaffery led West basketball to a 23-3 season and a Class 4A state title this year. He averaged 19.6 points per game on 51.8 percent shooting (41 percent from long range), 4.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
He hit .407 for West's state runner-up team last summer. He led the team with eight home runs and four triples. He also logged 10 doubles and 33 RBI.
Matthew Bain covers preps, recruiting and the Hawkeyes for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Des Moines Register and HawkCentral. Contact him at mbain@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.