James McCaffrey is a former basketball player who played collegiately at Holy Cross and was a 6th round selection in the 1986 NBA draft. A native of

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

, he was named one of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

's Greatest Sports Figures from the State of Vermont.

High school career

A prolific scorer at

Rutland High School Rutland High School is a senior high school located in Rutland, Vermont, and attended by students in grades 9-12. It has been located on Stratton Road since 1994. Prior to 1994 Rutland High School was located on Library Avenue (current Rutland Int ...

, McCaffrey scored 1,111 points in two varsity seasons, and guided the Red Raiders to back-to-back state title game appearances at

Patrick Gym The Roy L. Patrick Gymnasium is a 3,228 seat (3,266 for men's and women's basketball) multi-purpose arena in Burlington, Vermont. It was built in 1963 to replace the Old Gymnasium, a then-60-year-old facility now known as the Royall Tyler Theater. ...

. McCaffrey scored 55 points in single game in 1981, which is fifth all-time in Vermont state high school boys basketball history. He also set a single-game state tournament scoring record with a 48-point performance and earned all-state honors after averaging 30 points per game.

College career

McCaffrey spend the first two seasons of his college career at in-state institution St. Michael's College where he led the team in scoring for two seasons, including 21 points per game his second year. McCaffrey transferred to Holy Cross and in his first season with the Crusaders, he averaged 21.7 points per game en route to

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

first-team all-conference honors. In his senior season, McCaffrey bumped his scoring average to 22.8 points per game, and was named tournament MVP at the 1986 MAAC men's basketball tournament as well as picking up first-team all-conference honors again. McCaffrey also set the

Hart Center Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex is the main athletic center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1975 and is home to the Holy Cross Crusaders athletic teams. It is named for the Rev. Francis J. H ...

scoring record with a 45-point performance against

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...

in 1985, which earned him Sports Illustrated Player of the Week Honors. He finished his Holy Cross career with 1,178 points and as of 2017 ranks 4th all-time in scoring average (22.2), 6th all-time in free-throw percentage (.808) and is the all-time leader in average minutes played (35.5).

Post-college

After college, McCaffrey was taken in the sixth round of the 1986 NBA draft by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. He was released in training camp by the Suns, and also attended camp with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. McCaffrey played the 1987 season with the

Cincinnati Slammers The Cincinnati Slammers, originally the Ohio Mixers, were a professional basketball team based in Lima, Ohio from 1982 to 1984 and Cincinnati, Ohio from 1984 to 1987. They were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). The team was ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

, and also played in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

. He also appeared in

Nestlé Crunch Crunch is a chocolate bar made of milk chocolate and crisped rice. It is produced globally by Nestlé with the exception of the United States, where it is produced under license by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. History ...

ad alongside

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

after graduating from college, playing the role of a custodian. McCaffrey was inducted into the Holy Cross athletic hall of fame in 1992 and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also a member of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015.

Personal life

McCaffrey currently works in the finance in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His children were all collegiate athletes; son James played football at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, while younger son Mike played at Holy Cross. McCaffrey's daughter

Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "St ...

was also a standout women's soccer player at Boston College, and is a former professional and international soccer player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Jim Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Vermont Cincinnati Slammers players Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball players People from Rutland (city), Vermont Phoenix Suns draft picks Saint Michael's Purple Knights men's basketball players Year of birth missing (living people)