Billy McCaffrey (born May 30, 1971) is a former American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. He is also the former interim head coach at
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858.
In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...
.
Basketball career
McCaffrey attended
Allentown Central Catholic High School
Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS) is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, ACCHS predominantly serves students from the Lehigh Va ...
in
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
, where he played in the 1989
McDonald's All American
The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...
game.
McCaffrey began his college career at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
. As a sophomore, he was the team's second leading scorer during its 1991
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Championship season. He scored 16 points in the 1991 title game win over
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. McCaffrey then sat out the
1991–92 season as he transferred to
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
.
As a
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore, a ...
, McCaffrey was named a two-time All-American. A 6'3" shooting guard, he averaged 20.6 points in both his seasons at Vanderbilt, leading the school to a high national ranking of number 5, an
SEC regular season title with a 14–2 record, and number 3 regional seed in the
1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where Vanderbilt lost in the Sweet 16s to
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
. His 20.6 point average and .464 three-point field goal ranks second all-time in school history, and he is first in career free throw percentage at 88%. He also holds the Vanderbilt record for most assists in a game, 14, scored January 13 against
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
. He shared SEC Player of the Year honors with
Jamal Mashburn
Jamal Mashburn Sr. (born November 29, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed the "Monster Mash", Mashburn was a prolific scorer as a small forward in his 12 seasons in the National Basketball Assoc ...
in 1993.
Following his college career, he went on to play five seasons of professional basketball in Italy, Germany, and Australia. He played the 1996 season with the
South East Melbourne Magic
The South East Melbourne Magic was an Australian basketball team based in Melbourne. The Magic competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1992 and 1998, and played their home games at Rod Laver Arena.
In their seven seasons, the ...
of the
NBL.
Coaching career
McCaffrey was an assistant coach with
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858.
In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...
from 2001 to 2003 under his coach as a senior at Vanderbilt,
Jan van Breda Kolff
Jan van Breda Kolff (born December 16, 1951) is an American former college basketball, college and professional basketball player and college basketball head coach. The son of coach Butch van Breda Kolff and grandson of Dutch soccer player Jan ...
, and interim head coach in 2003 but he never coached a game. He was a
University of Maine
The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...
assistant coach for the 2003–04 season.
Personal life
McCaffrey's older brother
Ed is a former star
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
wide receiver for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
,
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
and
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. He won 3 Super Bowls. He was also a standout athlete at
Allentown Central Catholic High School
Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS) is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, ACCHS predominantly serves students from the Lehigh Va ...
and
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. His nephews are
Max,
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, Dylan and Luke.
References
External links
St. Bonaventure coaching profileDuke statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Billy
1971 births
Living people
All-American college men's basketball players
Allentown Central Catholic High School alumni
American expatriate basketball people in Australia
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
Basketball players from Pennsylvania
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players
Maine Black Bears men's basketball coaches
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Point guards
Shooting guards
South East Melbourne Magic players
Sportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania
St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball coaches
Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball players