The record-breaking NCAA women’s basketball player is dating Connor McCaffery, a former University of Iowa athlete

PHOTO: CAITLIN CLARK/INSTAGRAM

Meet Caitlin Clark’s No. 1 fan.

The University of Iowa athlete is dating Connor McCaffery, a fellow basketball player and former Hawkeye himself.

The couple started dating in April 2023 but didn’t make their relationship public until four months later when Clark posted a photo with Connor on her Instagram. “Best end to summer,” she captioned a carousel of images, which featured the couple cuddled up to each other on a boat.

In January 2024, Connor posted a tribute to Clark on her 22nd birthday. “Happy Birthday 22. Wish I was there to celebrate with you – you deserve the best day. Golden Bday/T Swift year will be the best yet,” he wrote. “With all that you’ve already accomplished, there is so much more in store for you and your special self. I admire you in every way and I love you.”

Connor’s prediction that there would be “so much more in store” for Clark was right. One month later, the basketball star became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history when she surpassed Kelsey Plum’s 3,527 points.

Along with some of the biggest names in sports like Tom Brady, Billie Jean King and Brittney Griner, Connor showed his support for Clark’s record-breaking accomplishment on social media.

Read on to learn more about Caitlin Clark’s boyfriend, Connor McCaffery.

He works for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers

Connor landed a job in professional sports after graduating from the University of Iowa in May 2023. He works as a team assistant for the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.

During his time at Iowa, Connor was a dual athlete. When he wasn’t training or competing with his team, he worked toward his two bachelor’s degrees in finance and political science.

Connor accepted the offer with the Pacers shortly after graduating in May. His approach to the job is “all-hands on deck,” he told Des Moines Register.

“I’ll play dummy defense, run the scout team, help coaches on film stuff, help on video projects if they need, scouting reports if they need,” he explained. “Whatever you’re asked to do, be ready to do it.”

He’s a former D1 basketball player

Connor McCaffery #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes on January 14, 2020.JUSTIN CASTERLINE/GETTY

Connor played basketball for the University of Iowa. He was a four-star recruit, arriving at Iowa in the 2017 recruiting class.

The former Iowa guard was not only accomplished on the court but succeeded simultaneously in his studies, earning the team’s Academic Excellence Award for five seasons.

Connor was also named a five-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, three-time NABC Honors Court, two-time Academic All-District First Team, two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and NABC Honors Court honoree, according to Hawkeye Sports.

He’s the son of Fran McCaffery

Guard Connor McCaffery #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes hugs his father head coach Fran McCaffery. 

Connor is the son of Fran McCaffery, head basketball coach at the University of Iowa, who has coached at the school for 14 years.

“We don’t know anything else,” Fran told The Gazette of himself and his longtime coaching partner Tom Izzo in February 2024. “We got into coaching right out of college and grinded our way up in the coaching profession.”

“Being around young people on a daily basis keeps you young. And I don’t look at my job any differently today than I did in 1983. I know that sounds weird, but it’s the truth.”

Fran has been coaching since 1983 and is currently in his 28th season as a head coach. Prior to Iowa, he served as head coach of Lehigh University, UNC Greensboro and Siena — and played college basketball himself, too.

The acclaimed coach played one season at Wake Forest before transferring to Penn.

He has an interest in pursuing a career in coaching, too

Connor McCaffery #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes talks to his head coach and father, Fran McCaffery, during the game against the Seton Hall Pirates at Prudential Center on November 16, 2022. 

Like his father, Connor has his sights set on a coaching career. When speaking with Des Moines Register, he shared his plan to learn from the ground up with his job NBA with the Indiana Pacers.

“It’s a way in,” Connor told the outlet. “It’s an entry-level job. You’ve got to work hard and work your way up. That’s obviously what I want to do.”

Meanwhile, his mom, Margaret McCaffery, prefers he take a different path — perhaps one aligned with his two degrees to avoid the stresses that could come with a job as a coach.

“Selfishly, that’s why I didn’t want him to go into coaching,” she told Sports Illustrated in March 2023. “It’s excruciating to watch my husband. I don’t anticipate it will be way better watching my son.”

“There are great things about (coaching) and tough things about it,” Margaret continued. “I look forward to him discovering all of that. And we’ll be there to support him no matter what he does.”

He’s also a baseball player

Prior to placing his focus on college basketball, Connor was a standout baseball player. He played both corner outfield spots and first base.

The dual athlete started in 22 baseball games as a redshirt freshman in 2018-2019, reported Sports Illustrated. D1Baseball.com rated him the seventh-best draft prospect in the Big Ten and the 231st-best prospect nationally.

Connor had the potential to go far in the game, with Des Moines Register claiming he was “on a good track” to enter the Major League Baseball draft in 2020.

However, Connor’s injuries and health complications hindered his timeline in the sport. Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the baseball season that year.

He and Clark started dating in April 2023

CAITLIN CLARK/INSTAGRAM

The couple celebrated their first anniversary on April 24, 2024. In honor of the milestone, Connor penned a sweet post about Clark on Instagram.

“One year w the best doing life w u has been easy, and you never cease to amaze me.. can’t wait to watch u live out ur dreams in person love you,” he wrote.

He’s very supportive of Clark

Caitlin Clark and Connor McCaffery.CONNOR MCCAFFERY/INSTAGRAM

Connor showed his support for Clark after she became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s basketball during the game that saw Iowa’s 106-89 victory over Michigan on Feb. 15, 2024.

“So proud,” he wrote on his Instagram Story, featuring a video of Clark’s long 3-pointer in the first quarter that solidified her name in the history book. “Love you 22.”

Clark’s record-breaking accomplishment, totaling 3,569 points (and counting), surpassed Kelsey Plum’s 3,527 points.

In March 2024, Clark led her team to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament by scoring 41 points against the LSU Tigers. “Out of words for this 1,” Connor wrote on Instagram following the big win.

Connor is there to support Clark when she doesn’t win, too. After she and her team lost the NCAA championship game on April 7, 2024 — the last game of her collegiate career — he shared a photo of her leaving the court on his Instagram Stories.