INDIANAPOLIS — Connor and Patrick McCaffery are household names in Iowa City. The brothers were scholarship players for the Hawkeyes under their father Fran, who started coaching at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 2010. Now, the brothers have the opportunity to leave their own basketball legacy in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Connor arrived in Indianapolis first, where he spent a year with the Pacers coaching staff. While Patrick was deciding what to do in his final year of eligibility, he ultimately decided to come to Butler, the school that recruited his younger brother Jack.
Once Patrick decided to head east to Indianapolis, they spent plenty of time together, watching sports, going out to eat, playing one on one at Hinkle Fieldhouse. In September, Connor got the call from Thad Matta. The Butler head coach wanted the 26-year-old to replace former assistant coach Greg Odon on the Bulldogs staff. He accepted the role, and ultimately added a new dynamic to his relationship with Patrick.
"Your player-player relationship is always going to be different. There's only so much you can control on the sideline versus when you're playing ," said Connor. "Now I can lock in and help him and our guys in a way I couldn't before."
"He's always been the big brother; I've always deferred to him on different aspects of not just basketball but life," said Patrick. "It's kind of natural because he's been my big brother my whole life. He can boss me around, yell at me, all that stuff."
As the duo spends the season together for the first time since Connor's graduation, they hope to bring some of their father's basketball philosophy to the Butler way - especially the importance of playing unselfish ball.
"I always try to play the right way. If you're open shoot it, if you're not, pass it," said Patrick. "Every game I've ever played in my life, the goal was to win, in any capacity, whether it was a board game, a card game, the objective was to win."
Back in Iowa City, neither brother could go out and about without being recognized as celebrities. Here in Indianapolis, the McCafferys join a much bigger basketball ecosystem, with notoriety and excitement at all levels. So far, Patrick and Connor have adjusted well to their new home, on and off the court.
"Growing up in a basketball family like they have, I think it helps both of those guys," said Matta. "That transition for Patrick coming in, Connor coming in late as a coach, it couldn't have gone smoother than it has so far."
Next year, their little brother Jack, a four-star forward, will begin his college basketball career at Butler, building upon the McCaffery legacy in Indianapolis.