The only daughter of the McCaffery family, Marit grew up in a sports-oriented environment, surrounded by coaching strategies and basketball practice.
Marit’s Father, Basketball Coach McCafferty
Francis John McCafferty was born on May 23rd, 1959, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent his childhood in the suburbs and went to Ancillae-Assumpta Academy and La Salle College High School (1976). In 1997, he married Margaret, the mother of their four children – Connor (1998), Patrick (2000), Jonathan (2007), and Marit.
As a college basketball player, he earned the nickname “White Magic”. Between 1977 and 1982, Fran played for Wake Forest and Penn as a point guard. He became an assistant at Penn in 1982, and one year later he went to Lehigh for the same position. Here McCafferty was promoted to head coach, where he remained until 1988. The next step in his coaching career was being an assistant at Notre Dame until 1999. Afterward, he was offered only head coach positions – UNC Greensboro (until 2005), Siena (until 2010), and currently Iowa.
Coach McCafferty is part of Coaches Vs. Cancer, an American Cancer Society program that helps raise money for people affected by cancer. The entire family is involved in the Relay For Life (Johnson County, Iowa City).
Among McCaffery’s latest achievements as head coach are NCAA Tournaments (2014-2016, 2019, 2021, 2022), 2K Classic Champion (2018), and the Big Ten Tournament Championship (2022).
He is part of the Hall of Fame at Iowa, being among only 14 Division I head coaches who managed to lead at least four programs to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Under McCaffery, the latest basketball season for the Iowa Men’s Basketball Team counted 242 wins. 2015, 2016, and 2021 editions of the NCAA Tournaments each brought a 3rd place ranking to coach McCafferty’s team.
Margaret McCafferty, College Basketball Star
Marit’s mother, Margaret, is from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She went to the University of Notre Dame, where she rose to stardom playing for their women’s basketball team.
Brother Patrick Survives Cancerous Tumor
Patrick, one of Marit’s older brothers, was born on March 20th and majored in Sport and Recreation Management. In 2014, he was diagnosed with a thyroid tumor. He was 14 years old at the time. The doctors were able to remove the tumor, and Patrick did not just recover, but he also managed to become West High School’s (Iowa City) highest ranked scorer in basketball. His best score in a game was 19 points against Nebraska in 2021.
Connor McCafferty, A Top 100 Recruit
Another brother of Marit’s, Connor, plays basketball for the Iowa State Men’s Basketball, University of Iowa. He was born on July 13th, and he is two years older than Patrick. Connor majored in finance. He was deemed a top 100 recruit in the US. His personal best is 19 points scored against Connecticut in 2018. In addition, Connor plays baseball for the Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team. His brother, Patrick, joined him on the Iowa Men’s Basketball team in 2018.