Connor McCaffery's initial plan was to have the best of both worlds, to be a two-sport student-athlete and to essentially ease into his basketball and baseball careers at Iowa. 

That is no longer the case. The Hawkeyes basketball team needs McCaffery right away.

Instead of redshirting during the 2017-18 campaign and starting baseball in the spring, the 6-foot-5 point guard will play for his dad, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery, much sooner than expected and with an incredibly important role.

Everything changed once junior point guard Christian Williams announced he was transferring from Iowa last week. It’s no secret the success of the Hawkeyes will likely rest mainly on the shoulders of sophomore starting point guard Jordan Bohannon, but Iowa needed Williams in spot minutes off the bench to help take some pressure away.

Now, that role belongs to McCaffery, who averaged 19.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game as a senior at Iowa City West (Iowa), ahead of the Hawkeyes' exhibition game against Belmont Abbey College on Thursday at 8 PM ET.

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McCaffery looks to be fit for the position, though. Sure, he had to knock away a few jitters and a little rust in Iowa’s 105-81 exhibition win over William Jewell College last Friday, but he was poised in handling the basketball and running the offense. McCaffery finished with five points, two rebounds, and three assists in 18 minutes. 

Whether he is fully ready or not doesn’t really matter at this point. The decision has been made, and the job is McCaffery's this season.