Fran McCaffery

Francis John McCaffery (born May 23, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as head coach of Lehigh University, UNC Greensboro, Siena, and Iowa, taking all four programs to the NCAA tournament at least once. McCaffery played college basketball for one season at Wake Forest before transferring to Penn. In his playing days, he acquired the nickname of "White Magic;" he was also referred to as the “Conductor” on the court. He began his college coaching career with a stint at Penn as an assistant coach. McCaffery became an assistant coach at Lehigh in 1983. He was the youngest head coach in Division I when he was promoted to head coach in 1985. Following his career at Lehigh, McCaffery spent 11 years as an assistant at Notre Dame. In 1999, he became the head coach of the UNC Greensboro Spartans. McCaffery had a 90–87 record through six seasons. He led the Spartans to the Southern Conference Championship and the NCAA Tournament in 2001. In his five seasons at Siena, McCaffery guided the Saints to four 20-win seasons, including three consecutive MAAC regular season and conference tournament championships. These resulted in three consecutive berths to the NCAA Tournament, in which they defeated both Vanderbilt and Ohio State in the first rounds. McCaffery's tenure at Siena is considered the greatest in program history as he revived a program that had a record of 6–24 prior to his arrival. He also maintained a 100% graduation rate for players completing their NCAA eligibility. McCaffery was introduced as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 29, 2010, where he reached the final of the 2013 National Invitation Tournament and reached the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in seven of his 15 seasons. On March 26, 2025, McCaffery was named head coach of the Penn Quakers, his alma mater.