Loose Hawkeyes Looking to Make Run

Opportunities Abound for Iowa Basketball in February

Iowa's Patrick McCaffery is greeted by fans before a game against Penn State on Jan. 22, 2022 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

Patrick McCaffery can probably get away with making fun of his father.

Patrick’s dad, Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery, hasn’t been with the team since a positive COVID-19 test result on Friday. McCaffery missed Sunday’s 71-59 win over Minnesota, but is expected to rejoin the team on Wednesday as the Hawkeyes head to Maryland for Thursday’s game.

That allowed Patrick to have a little fun at his dad’s expense on Tuesday.

Asked what it was like not to have Fran on the sideline for Sunday’s game, Patrick said, “It’s a lot quieter. A lot quieter.”

Then there was the way the first half ended on Sunday, when Tony Perkins’ inbounds pass was intercepted by Minnesota’s Luke Loewe, who threw in a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Gophers a 38-34 halftime lead.

“He probably would have had something to say about how the half ended,” Patrick said, laughing at the thought of what the halftime locker-room talk might have been like. “I’m glad he wasn’t there for that.”

And then there was the thought of Fran and assistant coach Sherman Dillard breaking down video virtually in preparation for Thursday’s game.

“It’s a miracle those two were able to get that to happen,” Patrick said, breaking down in laughter as teammate Jordan Bohannon did the same.

The Hawkeyes were in a good mood on Tuesday coming off a win.

Even assistant coach Billy Taylor, who was the acting head coach for Sunday’s win, got in on the comedy act.

Asked if his reign as head coach would be over soon, Taylor said, “Reign? We’ll use that term lightly.”

The Hawkeyes, though, will be glad to get their head coach back.

“He’s the voice of the program,” Patrick said. “We go as he goes. So not having him there was different. But I’m glad we’ll have him back Thursday.”

It’s all about the routine.

“We have a pretty strict game-day routine,” Patrick said. “Do the same things, come in at the same time, everything like that.

“In basketball, it’s a rhythm game. You never want to be disrupted — that includes pre-game and post-game. You don’t want that to be disrupted. So the coaches did a good job of keeping it the same, even if my dad wasn’t there.”

Fran McCaffery has been in contact with his team throughout his quarantine.

“I know he’s been calling pretty much every player on our team,” Patrick said before throwing in another wisecrack. “I don’t know if he’s bored or something.

“He’s still trying to be as involved as he can, while trying to give Coach Taylor a little more freedom and let him do what he does, be a head coach. There’s been a little give and take there.”

The Hawkeyes (15-7 overall, 5-6 Big Ten) head into the final nine games of the regular season looking to gain some March momentum. After Thursday, they play four of their next five games at home, with the only road game coming against Nebraska, a team that hasn’t won a Big Ten game this season.

“We have a chance to make a statement here in the next few games,” Patrick said.