'Residual Health Issues' Sideline Patrick McCaffery

Iowa freshman forward was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when he was 14.

Jeffrey Becker/USA Today Sports

Iowa freshman forward Patrick McCaffery was not in uniform on Friday night as he deals with what his father, coach Fran McCaffery, described as “residual health issues” related to Patrick’s battle with thyroid cancer in 2014.

“Nothing life-threatening, cancer’s not back, anything like that,” Fran McCaffery said, not going into specifics. “But there are a lot of changes in his body that we are working through. We will take it day to day.”

Patrick McCaffery was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the 2014 season, around the time the Hawkeyes were preparing to play in the NCAA tournament. He had surgery to remove the tumor, and has been cancer-free since.

“You can tell he’s not himself at times,” said Connor McCaffery, Patrick’s brother, who is a third-year sophomore guard for the Hawkeyes. “We’re kind of taking things slowly, just trying to be there for him. We try to stay positive with him, trying to get him to a point where he’s feeling good. After all he’s been through, that’s kind of what we’re looking for.”

Patrick McCaffery played 26 minutes in Iowa’s first two games this season. He was out on the Carver-Hawkeye Arena court more than an hour after Monday’s 93-78 loss to DePaul, getting extra work.

He was on the bench for Friday's 87-74 win over Oral Roberts.

“I think he’s going to work hard to get to where he can be successful on the court,” Connor McCaffery said. “Unfortunately, I think a lot of it is out of his control. Just kind of leave it up to the medical staff and hope we can work something out.

Connor said his brother dealt with similar issues in high school.

“I didn’t really notice it until about a week ago,” Connor said. “He’s been working hard, he’s been trying. I think it’s a lot out of his control. He’s going to work. That’s just him. He’s competitive. For him, making sure he’s healthy is the most important thing.