Fran McCaffery shuts down retirement talk, reveals why Penn was the perfect fit: “I knew I wanted to coach”

New Penn coach Fran McCaffery broke his silence on rumors of him retiring from the occupation.

In an interview with CBS Sports activities reporter Jon Rothstein in the Inside School Basketball Now podcast, McCaffery denied he is retiring from faculty basketball. The 66-year-old Philadelphia native famous he was searching for a brand new problem in his profession and the job at Penn got here alongside.

“By no means. By no means. And I made that recognized to all people in the occupation,” McCaffery mentioned (Timestamp: 7:34). “I knew I wanted to coach after which as soon as Penn turned out there, I knew I wanted to be right here.”

McCaffery, who performed three seasons for the Quakers after transferring from Wake Forest, knew it was a perfect match for him to coach at Penn, for it was his alma mater. It was extra about giving again to the faculty that helped him turn out to be one among the revered mentors in the sport.

“I take nice satisfaction in coming again to my alma mater and making an attempt to do one thing particular as a result of I consider in what this place stands for,” McCaffery mentioned (Timestamp 8:00). “So, I’m I’m grateful day-after-day that I get to come right here and coach and work with this group.”

McCaffery had an amazing three-season stint with the Quakers. He led the Ivy League in assists and steals as a senior in the 1981-82 season and was voted as the winner of the Bus MacDonald Award as the group’s most inspirational participant.

He helped Penn win three Ivy League titles and performed for the NCAA Match throughout his sophomore and senior seasons.

Fran McCaffery brings a wonderful teaching resume to Penn

Fran McCaffery returns to his alma mater as a embellished coach who gained 548 video games and led 12 groups to the NCAA Match and 5 NIT stints. He served as head coach for 29 seasons at Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, Siena and Iowa, the place he spent 15 seasons earlier than taking the job at Penn.

In Iowa, he guided the Hawkeyes to seven NCAA Tournaments in his final 11 seasons and reached the NIT championship video games in 2023.

The teaching resume he had via the years might have resonated with the gamers of his new group, as most of the roster stayed and purchased into his philosophy.

“I do assume it says one thing about my coming right here that: ‘hey, you already know, we wish to play for this man,'” McCaffery mentioned (Timestamp 8:37). And that is an amazing feeling as a coach.”

Penn brings in a stronger lineup for this 12 months’s marketing campaign with former Duke and Virginia guard TJ Energy coming in from the switch portal. The Quakers will nonetheless have final season’s high scorer, Ethan Roberts, steals chief AJ Levine and wing Michael Zanoni.

The group hopes to enhance its 8-19 (4-10 in the Ivy League) document final season with McCaffery at the helm.