McCaffery: 'I Want What's Best For Luka'

Iowa men's basketball coach gives player updates on Rothstein podcast.

Jon Rothstein is known for a handful of things, but mainly two stick out: trademarked slogans and a deep understanding of college basketball.

This offseason, though, he’s also been known as a prime advocate for Hawkeye basketball. In his latest rankings, Rothstein positioned Iowa at No. 3 in his top 45.

Following the release of his rankings, Rothstein had Iowa basketball head coach Fran McCaffery on his podcast, College Hoops Today with Jon Rothstein, and the two discussed a wide range of topics.

Garza update

Luka Garza is scheduled to make his NBA announcement Aug. 3, and McCaffery made it clear he supports Garza in whatever decision he makes.

“I want what’s best for Luka,” McCaffery told Rothstein. “That’s the way it has to be. I can’t weigh that with anything that would be considered selfish. Luka knows if he comes back, we’re going to be a better team than if he doesn’t come back. Our chances to advance and do some special things are right there if he chooses to come back... He knows he has my full support in that pursuit.”

McCaffery noted that if Garza returns, he’s going to have a legitimate shot at becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer.

“He will be legendary in this state, if he’s not already legendary. He pretty much is,” McCaffery said. “I think one of the things he is excited about is the ability to do something for our program that maybe is unprecedented.”

McCaffery praised Garza’s handling of the current situation. With no answers to whether or not there will be a college basketball season, Garza has his toughest decision looming closer and closer each day.

But would he love to have Garza back for another year? Absolutely.

“You’d love to coach him for four years, I’d love to coach Luka Garza for 40 years,” McCaffery said. “All he does is come to practice and work hard. He’s a great person off the floor and a great representative of the program, he’s a great teammate, and he’s a great leader… coaches talk about the culture they establish. Culture is the players, the players you recruit, and how they conduct themselves. There’s not better example than Luka Garza.”

Bohannon and Patrick McCaffery are medically cleared, but Nunge is not

Bohanon, Nunge, and Patrick McCaffery all missed significant time last season due to health issues, redshirting the 2019-20 season.

McCaffery told Rothstein that both Bohannon and Patrick McCaffery have been cleared, but Nunge has not.

“Jordan looks great,” McCaffery said. “He’s in the best shape of his life.”

On the flip side, while Nunge still can’t participate in five-on-five drills, his upside is tremendous, according to his coach.

“I don’t want to underestimate what Ryan Kriener did because he was terrific, but I will say that last summer through the fall, Jack Nunge was one of our best players,” McCaffery said.”(He’s) really had taken his game to another level off of the redshirt year the year before.”

Navigating basketball in the pandemic

If Garza returns, Iowa’s roster is one of the best in the nation. It would be “without question the deepest team” McCaffery has ever coached. But the biggest question isn’t necessarily Garza’s return, but rather if there will be a college basketball season.

While nothing has been decided at the conference level, McCaffery and others have shared positive conversations with commissioner Kevin Warren.

“Do we go conference only or do we push the season back?” McCaffery asked. “Do we play it as is? You look at all different angles. Obviously, we all hope the season starts November 8 and we play our schedule. If that’s not doable, alright, do we push it back into January? The longer it goes, the better chance we have for a vaccine.”

Rothstein asked McCaffery if, from a parent’s perspective, would he continue with college basketball, as two of his sons are on the roster.

“I would move forward with my sons on the team,” McCaffery said. “I wouldn’t, to be frank, view that any differently. I take very seriously the relationship I have with the players that I’ve recruited. I’m not going to treat my sons any different than I would treat another man or another woman’s child. That said, I’m going to listen to our doctors, to our trainers, and I’m going to evaluate safe practices. We’re going to do contact tracing, we’re going to wear a mask, we’re going to do all that stuff and truly minimize opportunity where we could catch the virus. I feel like we have to get moving in a positive direction.”

For additional content, follow Adam Hensley on Twitter @A_Hens83.