Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – It’s been a few years but Patrick McCaffery can still remember the uneasy feelings that came with being a first-year varsity player.

Three seasons ago McCaffery was a 6-foot-7 freshman with sky-high potential and a penchant for highlight reel dunks.

A rising star on West High teams that reached back-to-back 4A title games in 2016 and 2017, McCaffery left the leadership to upperclassmen like his older brother Connor, Devontae Lane and Izaya Ono-Fullard.

Fast forward to this fall and McCaffery is the lone returning starter and unquestioned leader of a West High squad seeking a fourth consecutive title game appearance.

That’s what has the 6-foot-9 all-state thinking back to what he learned from his older teammates three years ago as the new player in the lineup.

“I had a really good example of leaders throughout my years here with guys like Connor and Devontae and Izaya,” McCaffery said. “They showed me the ropes when I was younger so it’s been really easy to help all those younger guys come a long this year.”

McCaffery has come a long way in three short years since he averaged 4.7 points off the bench as a freshman.

Now a 6-foot-9 consensus top-50 national prospect McCaffery signed with Iowa earlier this month and is considered among the elite players in the state.

Despite that on-court growth the biggest area of improvement for McCaffery has been his leadership.

With four new starters and a roster filled with newcomers that may be what the Trojans lean on McCaffery for most this season.

“He had to be a leader last year, we kind of threw that on him last year and he did a good job,” West High coach Steve Bergman said. “He started doing a better job last year and then with our offseason workouts sometimes we have some adult to run them and sometimes we don’t and we didn’t and he just ran them and he did a good job.”

A returning first-team all-state pick that ranked ninth in 4A in scoring last season at 19.9 points per game West High is going to ask a lot of McCaffery all over the court.

After watching his older brother and current Iowa point guard Connor along with his other teammates at West High for two years McCaffery understands that scoring and rebounding are only part of what he needs to lead the Trojans in this season.

“I’ve been working more this year on trying to lead by example and trying to be the hardest working person in every drill,” McCaffery said. “I’m just trying to show those younger guys the West High way and what we have to do in order for us to be successful because it doesn’t happen by accident.”  

Hard work is part of what has turned McCaffery from a flashy freshman to one of the state’s steadiest performers.

McCaffery averaged career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals last season.

Bergman expects those numbers to climb this year.

“He is getting stronger and he is doing things that he couldn’t do physically a year ago,” Bergman said. “He has gotten stronger, his leadership has gotten better, his work habits have gotten better and his skills have gotten better.”

McCaffery is still skinny, he knows that, but he is considerably stronger than a year ago.

He recognized over the offseason he would never be one of the bigger or stronger post players so he worked on developing a game to play with his frame.

“I’m always going to be on the leaner side, I’m never going to be really big and strong and just be able to beast people so I’m working on how to play with my frame,” McCaffery said. “I’m just trying to figure out ways to use that to my advantage.”

Shortly after last season ended with a loss to Cedar Falls in the 4A title game Bergman could see the improvement in his lone returning starter.

“We finished our season and two months later I said ‘oh he has really gotten better’ and that’s good,” Bergman said. “That’s a good thing because sometimes kids in his situation don’t improve.”  

McCaffery played with USA Basketball over the summer and spent hours in the gym working on his jump shot.

After shooting 34 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore he dipped to 26 percent last season.

That is one number that Bergman and McCaffery both know needs to be better.

“He is a way better shooter than he was six months ago,” Bergman said. “Last year I told him he has to shoot better than this and I think he really took that to heart. Not just from me, he lives with his next coach and he heard that he needed to get better at shooting and he has.”  

The first bucket McCaffery scores this season will give him 1,000 points in his career.

That is of little concern to the senior who is focused on closing his career with a second 4A title.

“There is no exception here at West its state championship or bust,” McCaffery said. “Last year we were state runners-up, we were 21-5 and last season was a disappointment in our eyes. We can’t have that happen again.”

For West High to make another 4A title run it will need McCaffery to fill up the state sheet.

More importantly the Trojans will need McCaffery to be a leader, something he is now comfortable with thanks to two years of learning from past West High players.

“You have to lead in a positive way,” McCaffery said. “If someone screws up you can’t just jump them you need to be able to orchestrate the message in a positive way and let them know that you still love them but there is something they need to work on.”