Caitlin Clark’s boyfriend Connor McCaffery has begun his tenure as an assistant coach on staff at Butler University. During his team’s second game of the season, Clark showed up to support her McCaffery from the stands. However, in the eyes of the broadcast crew, Clark may have outshone her boyfriend by coming.
During Butler’s loss to Austin Peay on Friday, the Fox College Hoops broadcast showed Clark sitting in the stands. The broadcast name card identified her as “Caitlin Clark 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year.” Then, when the camera turned to McCaffery on the sidelines, a name card identified him as “Connor McCaffery WNBA ROTY Caitlin Clark’s Boyfriend.”
But the broadcast even had to get McCaffery’s little brother involved in the gimmick.
After disregarding McCaffery’s title, his brother Patrick McCaffery, who is a player on Butler’s team, was shown with a name card that read, “Patrick McCaffery WNBA ROTY Caitlin Clark’s Boyfriend’s Brother.”
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The broadcast did this to the player on a night where he had 23 points and eight rebounds. Patrick is in his sixth college season and his first at Butler after transferring from Iowa, where both Clark and Connor played, too. Connor’s other younger brother, Jack McCaffery, is also on the team as a freshman.
The broadcast’s disregard for the McCafferys and their positions in favor of connecting them to Clark drew mixed reactions on social media.
“Nasty work,” one user wrote about the broadcast’s hijinx.
Another user wrote, “Nah they did Patrick dirty.”
Head coach Fran McCaffery hugs his son Connor McCaffery of the Iowa Hawkeyes as he comes off the floor during the second half against the Auburn Tigers in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Legacy Arena at the BJCC on March 16, 2023, in Birmingham, Alabama. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, a more frustrated user complained, “Honestly, it’s really cringe to continue to try to use her name for attention.”
TAYLOR SWIFT FANS SIDE WITH CAITLIN CLARK AFTER ANGEL REESE INTERVIEWS TRAVIS KELCE’S EX-GIRLFRIEND
Iowa women’s basketball’s Caitlin Clark shows off her rings during a second quarter timeout during Iowa football’s game against Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (IMAGN)
Connor played in 166 games at Iowa, which ranks second in Iowa history. He dealt with injuries throughout the majority of his college career, but a redshirt year and COVID-19 campaign allotted him six seasons. He reached the NCAA tournament in each of his full seasons, apart from his COVID season. He averaged 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds, and played in 111 wins, tying Jordan Bohannon for most in program history. His career assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.59 (527 assists to 147 turnovers) is the second best in NCAA history.
Iowa is also where McCaffery met Clark when she was starring for the women’s team from 2020 to 24. The couple started dating in April 2023 after Clark had led Iowa on a run to the NCAA title game. But McCaffery was a senior at that time, and he began his coaching career right after graduating.
In May of that year, he began his career as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers. McCaffrey ended up with a job in Indiana before Clark even knew she was going to be playing for the Indiana Fever. By fate, the Fever finished with a bad enough record last season to earn the top pick in the WNBA Draft lottery this year, which sent Clark to Indiana, too.
Now, even with McCaffery’s new job, the Butler campus would be just seven miles from the Fever’s arena, Gainbridge Field House. So, their fates will stay in Indianapolis together for now.
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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and boyfriend Connor McCaffery attend a game between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on August 10, 2024, in New York City. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
The couple celebrated their first anniversary on April 24, 2024, as seen in an Instagram post by Connor on that day.
“One year [with] the best doing life [with] [you] has been easy, and you never cease to amaze me.. can’t wait to watch [you] live out ur dreams in person, love you,” he wrote in the caption.
On Aug. 10, during the WNBA Olympics break, the couple made a trip to New York City to watch a Yankees game. However, only Clark was seen being given a tour of the Yankees clubhouse, and only Clark took photos with star players Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Juan Soto.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
