The University of Iowa honored Caitlin Clark by retiring her jersey on February 2nd. Coach Fran McCaffery, who witnessed Clark's phenomenal rise, lauded her as a generational talent, emphasizing her impact on both the program and women's basketball.
On February 2nd, the University of Iowa celebrated Caitlin Clark 's extraordinary career by retiring her jersey. The entire school was impacted by Clark's four seasons of phenomenal basketball, benefiting from the heightened profile she brought to the program. One person who witnessed Clark's record-breaking journey firsthand is Fran McCaffery, the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team since 2010.
McCaffery achieved his 500th career win as a collegiate head coach on December 8, 2022, and became the winningest head coach in Iowa basketball history on January 15, 2024. McCaffery's connection to Clark goes beyond his coaching role; he is also the father of Connor McCaffery, Caitlin Clark's boyfriend. This personal connection allowed him to get to know Clark on a deeper level. McCaffery expressed his admiration for Clark, stating, 'Just to be with her teammates, not only the ones that are on her team now but the ones that came back to support her, that meant so much to her, it meant a lot to her family and to the program. 'What she did, not only for our program but for women's basketball, has been nothing that we've ever seen before, nothing we could have envisioned,' he continued. McCaffery's recognition of Clark's talent extends back to her freshman year. He recalled, “You could kind of see it coming when she was a freshman, with how great she was... I said it to you guys then, I said, ‘This is a generational talent.’ I said that after 10-15 games. If you know anything about that game, you could see that,” McCaffery added.Fran McCaffery's confidence in Clark's abilities from an early stage highlights his keen eye for talent. Grant Young, who covers women's basketball for Sports Illustrated's ‘On SI’ sites, also acknowledged Clark's remarkable achievements, stating that she has done for women's basketball what no one has ever seen before. Young's perspective as a sports journalist further emphasizes the significance of Clark's impact on the sport.
Caitlin Clark Iowa Hawkeyes Fran Mccaffery Women's Basketball Jersey Retirement
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