The announcement marks a return to University City for McCaffery, who played three seasons for the Quakers and is a 1982 alumnus of the Wharton School.
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Image: Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team
Key Takeaways
Fran McCaffery, a 1982 graduate of the Wharton School, returns to Penn to coach the men’s basketball team
McCaffery played three seasons for the Quakers and was nicknamed “White Magic”
McCaffery has been a college basketball coach for 43 years, most recently the University of Iowa. His head coaching record is 548-384 overall, a .588 winning percentage
Alanna Wren, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W’69 Director of Athletics and Recreation, has announced the hiring of alumnus Fran McCaffery as the new John R. Rockwell Head Coach of Men’s Basketball.
McCaffery, a 1982 graduate of the Wharton School, will be introduced to the community on Monday, April 7 during a press conference at 10 a.m. at the Palestra.
The announcement marks a return to University City for McCaffery, who played three seasons for the Quakers after transferring in from Wake Forest. Nicknamed “White Magic,” he led the Ivy League in assists (105) and steals (51) as a senior in 1981-82 and was voted recipient of the Bus MacDonald Award as the team’s most inspirational player that season. Penn went 36-6 in Ivy League play across the three seasons that McCaffery wore the Red and Blue, winning three Ivy League titles, and playing in the NCAA Tournament his sophomore and senior seasons. McCaffery then made his coaching debut with the Quakers following his graduation, as assistant varsity coach and head sub-varsity coach under Head Coach Craig Littlepage.
“I am thrilled to bring Fran back to Penn and Philadelphia as our next head men’s basketball coach,” Wren says. “Fran has had success at every level of Division I and is passionate about restoring our program to glory. His energy and enthusiasm for leading young men was apparent throughout the process and he has proven to be committed to player development and relationship-building with his student-athletes throughout his storied career.”
“I am excited and honored to return to my alma mater and the City of Philadelphia to lead the Penn men’s basketball program,” McCaffery says. “It is a program that I have fond memories of from my previous time there as a student-athlete and assistant coach. My vision is to return Penn to prominence in the Ivy League and beyond and bring an exciting style of play to the Palestra. I want to thank President Larry Jameson, AD Alanna Wren, Provost John Jackson, and Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli for providing me with this opportunity to return home. I relish the challenge and look forward to getting started.”
McCaffery has been a college basketball coach for 43 years, 29 of those as a head coach at Lehigh (3 seasons), UNC Greensboro (6), Siena (5), and most recently the University of Iowa where he spent 15 seasons and departed as the Hawkeyes’ all-time winningest coach with 297 victories. McCaffery joins Hall of Fame coaches Rick Pitino, Bob Huggins, Eddie Sutton, and Lefty Driesell as the only Division I coaches to lead teams to conference tournament titles in four or more different leagues, and he is also one of just 14 Division I head coaches to take at least four different programs to the NCAA Tournament.
McCaffery’s head coaching record is 548-384 overall, a .588 winning percentage. The four programs he inherited over the years had a combined record of 35-84 (.204) the season prior to his arrival. By year three, they had a combined record of 89-45 (.664). McCaffery has coached 12 teams to NCAA Tournament appearances and five to the NIT.
Originally from Philadelphia, McCaffery attended La Salle College High School. He and his wife, Margaret, have four children: sons, Connor, Patrick, and Jonathan, and a daughter, Marit.
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