Caitlin Clark's BF Connor McCaffery pens down heartfelt letter for brother Patrick McCaffery for tremendous college journey: "Keep going brother" 

Fifth-year Iowa Hawkeyes forward Patrick McCaffery is a bench option under his father, coach Fran McCaffery, who is expected to depart the team after this season.

His brother, Connor McCaffery, who is dating Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark, recently penned a letter for the forward on Instagram, captioning it:

"So proud of this dude… people don’t know what you’ve been through 22 🙏🏼 1k point scorer, Champion, Cancer Survivor ‼️ , and so much more. Keep goin brother 🙏🏼❤️."

Patrick McCaffery deals with adversity

Patrick McCaffery battled thyroid cancer and had two surgeries during his teenage years that threatened his college basketball career.

At the beginning of the year, he announced that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with his anxiety.

"It's not fair to myself or teammates to be on the court when I am not myself," he said. "The anxiety has affected my sleep, appetite, and stamina, which has resulted in not having the energy level necessary to compete at my full capabilities.

"It might be two games, it may be four games, it may be more, but I will return when I feel like myself," McCaffery said.

His father Fran supported his decision to step away from the court.

"All of us admire his courage and willingness to be open about this struggle and we hope others know that they are not alone," the coach said. "We will be with him every step of the way."

The forward returned to action for the Hawkeyes a few weeks later and has been playing in a reduced capacity from the bench.

Patrick McCaffery joins the 1,000 points club

Despite the adversity that he has faced in his basketball career so far, Patrick McCaffery joined the 1,000 points club during his team's 90-81 win against No. 11 Penn State in February.

His father Fran spoke about his son hitting the milestone during his postgame news conference.

“His journey has been so unique,” Fran McCaffery said. “We’ve talked about it a lot. But when you think about when he was 14 years old, would he get 1,000 points in the Big Ten? We didn’t know if he’d get two points. We didn’t know if he’d be able to play his high school career. So, just really proud of his perseverance and his attitude. His leadership on this team has been impressive. I’m thrilled for him.”

His brother, Connor McCaffery, also reacted to it on Instagram with the caption:

"Proud of the boy."

Connor McCaffery's IG