Fran McCaffery graduated from Penn’s Wharton School of Business poised for a career in finance. He was an athlete – a point guard with the Pennsylvania Quakers – but the game was a hobby: with a network and a golden degree, McCaffery was casting himself in the mold of a Wharton man.
“I made a decision to come to the University of Pennsylvania, figuring that I would move into the business world in some capacity,” McCaffery told Hoops HQ. “Those guys go to Wall Street.”
In his final months as a Wharton student, the Quakers clinched the Ivy League title and a scored to the NCAA Tournament. Nicknamed “White Magic,” McCaffery carried the conference in assists (105) and steals (51), and hoisted Penn into the postseason for the fourth time in five years. It was a watershed moment.
“My career ended. I wasn’t going to make the NBA, but realized how much I loved the game and how much I wanted to stay in the game,” he said, “So I decided to see if I could do that.”
An experiment that started with a season as a Penn Assistant transfigured McCaffery’s life. For the next half century, his career went national – lofting him across six universities, a score of title games and 12 NCAA Tournaments. That trail of opportunity made him one of the most renowned men in the NCAA – but it hadn’t taken him home until now.