Jack McCaffery was in the middle of a fresh start. The 20-year-old forward grew up in Iowa City while his father, Fran, coached Iowa, and he was a star there too. He was named Gatorade State Player of the Year after averaging 21.2 points as a senior, and he was a four-star recruit. After one year at Butler, he moved to Richmond and was in his first season with the Spiders. Then, on Sunday, news came out that put his season on hold.
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Connor McCaffery, Jack’s brother and the boyfriend of Fever star Caitlin Clark, shared the update on Instagram, with childhood pictures of the two of them. He wrote, “Nobody stronger than u to fight this 🙏🏼❤️ you’ve got us all with you and we love you ❤️ CANCER SUCKS!!!!!!!!”
The school announced that Jack will be on indefinite medical leave from the Richmond team after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was seen by Richmond’s medical staff earlier this week, then traveled home with his parents and was admitted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
He has already begun treatment there under Penn Medicine. His father, Fran, is the head coach at Penn.
Dr. Alison Wakoff Loren of Penn Medicine said in the school’s statement that Hodgkin’s lymphoma is “a highly curable form of cancer.” She added that the goal is to get Jack through treatment safely and back with his teammates as soon as possible.
Richmond coach Chris Mooney said the whole program will be there for Jack and his family “every step of the way.”
The reactions came in fast.
Clark commented, “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
Her Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham left “❤️,” and Kelsey Mitchell wrote, “🫂🫶.”
Gabbie Marshall, a former Iowa teammate, also chipped in with “❤️❤️❤️,” while Lexie Hull added, “❤️❤️.”
The support is no surprise. Clark and Connor both played at Iowa, where he finished second in program history with 166 games played. Just days earlier, on Thursday night, Clark sat behind the Penn bench next to Connor, who wore a gray Penn hoodie, as Fran’s team played No. 3 Illinois in Champaign. Penn lost 112-70, but the couple stayed close to the family’s team.
It is not the family’s first health battle either. Jack’s older brother, Patrick, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer as a teenager, went through treatment and later played for his father at Iowa.
For now, Jack’s season is on hold while he focuses on treatment. He has his family, his team and a long list of familiar names in his corner.