Luka Garza, Iowa Players React to Hawkeyes Firing Coach Fran McCaffery

Arguably the greatest player in Iowa men's basketball history weighed in on the Hawkeyes' decision.

Iowa center Luka Garza walks with Iowa coach Fran McCaffery following a game against Penn State on Feb. 21, 2021. / Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Fran McCaffery era in Iowa City has come to a close.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are set to dismiss McCaffrey from his role as the head men's basketball coach after wrapping up his 15th season on the bench with a 17–16 record. McCaffery, who was hired ahead of the 2010-11 season, is the program's all-time leader in wins (297) and ranks second in NCAA tournament appearances (seven).

Among those to weigh in on Iowa's decision was Luka Garza, arguably the Hawkeyes' greatest player in program history.

"Thank you Coach for changing my life, and the lives of so many others," Garza wrote on social media. "You believed in a way that not many others did. Choosing to play in the black and gold was the best decision I have ever made for a lot of reasons, but mainly because I was able to be coached by you."

Thank you Coach for changing my life, and the lives of so many others. You believed in a way that not many others did. Choosing to play in the black and gold was the best decision I have ever made for a lot of reasons, but mainly because I was able to be coached by you. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eMUvxb12gw

— Luka Garza ✞ (@LukaG_55) March 14, 2025

Garza played four seasons for McCaffery at Iowa from 2017 to '21, collecting a large trophy case of hardware as the 2021 Naismith Player of the Year and the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year.

Garza is currently in his fourth NBA season and third with the Minnesota Timberwolves. His post about McCaffery spread far and wide on social media and was reposted by the likes of fellow Iowa legend Caitlin Clark.

McCaffery's son Patrick, who played for his father for five years at Iowa, weighed in on social media with one emoji. So did his brother Connor, who posted three clown emojis before deleting his tweet.

😞

— Patrick McCaffery (@patrickmccaff22) March 14, 2025

Iowa wrapped up the 2024-25 season with a 106–94 loss to Illinois in the Big Ten tournament on Thursday night. In a very on-brand move, McCaffery's final act as the Hawkeyes' head coach was getting ejected from that loss midway through the second half.

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