Caitlin Clark’s potential father-in-law Fran McCaffery ‘agrees to coach’ at Donald Trump’s alma mater, Penn
Fired Iowa men’s basketball coach and Caitlin Clark’s potential future father-in-law Fran McCaffery has landed at his own alma mater.
The 65-year-old Philadelphia native has reportedly accepted an offer to coach at Penn, a 270-year-old Ivy League institution that’s produced Presidents William Henry Harrison and Donald Trump, not to mention former Houston Rockets guard Matt Maloney.
McCaffery began coaching at Iowa in 2010 after an impressive run with Siena. Since then, he’s led the Hawkeyes to six NCAA Tournament appearances while posting a 143-141 Big Ten record along the way.
He and wife Margaret, herself a former Notre Dame hoops star, have four children, including Connor, himself a former Hawkeyes player who now serves as an assistant coach at Butler University in Indianapolis. Connor is also known as the boyfriend of Clark, the Indiana Fever guard and WNBA superstar, who became a national phenomenon while playing for the Hawkeyes.
DailyMail.com has reached out to a Penn spokesperson for confirmation on McCaffrey. College hoops reporter Sam Federman first reported a deal was imminent. Since then, long-time hoops writer Dick Weiss reported McCaffery had accepted the job.
‘Former Quaker player with B1G experience, will play exciting uptempo (sic) style,’ wrote Weiss on X. ‘Now all he needs is some players.’
Fired Iowa men’s basketball coach and Caitlin Clark ‘s potential future father-in-law Fran McCaffery has landed at his own alma mater: The University of Pennsylvania
McCaffery’s son Connor is an assistant at Butler and the boyfriend of WNBA star Caitlin Clark
A former Wake Forest transfer, McCaffery’s history at Penn dates back to 1979, when he enrolled in the University’s prestigious business school, Wharton College, where Trump once studied.
That season the Quakers would stun fifth-seeded Washington State in the NCAA Tournament before falling to fourth-seeded Duke in the second round, albeit while McCaffery remained on the bench.
He would see far more action when the Quakers returned to the Big Dance in 1982 before ultimately falling to Chris Mullin, Bill Wennington and the St. John’s Red Storm in the second round.
McCaffery stayed on as an assistant under new coach Craig Littlepage before moving on to Lehigh, where he’d get his first head-coaching position in 1985, and later on to UNC Greensboro, Siena and Iowa.
A proud member of the Philadelphia Big 5 – a group of six local college basketball teams – Penn finished just 8-19 this season. As a result, the Quakers fired head coach Steve Donahue, who managed just one NCAA Tournament appearance in his nine seasons on the job.
The school miraculously reached the 1979 Final Four, but has not advanced beyond the second round of the NCAA Tournament ever since.
Trump is seen during a taping with MSNBC at the University of Pennsylvania in 1999
Ex-Penn and Houston Rockets guard Matt Maloney is one of a few Quakers to reach the NBA
Clark has been enjoying her offseason following a monumental rookie campaign in Indiana, where spearheaded a massive spike in the WNBA’s viewership and attendance numbers.
After waving off the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league for some downtime, Clark has been seen at a number of high-profile sporting events, including some Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball games.
Connor currently works under former three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, Thad Matta, who is best known for stints at Xavier and Ohio State.
Matta previously coached at Butler in 2000-01, reaching the NCAA Tournament, but the Bulldogs struggled to a 14-19 finish this season.
