Former Iowa basketball star Patrick McCaffery bids farewell to locker room after committing to Butler: "Been real"

Former Iowa basketball forward Patrick McCaffery announced his decision to join the Butler Bulldogs after entering the transfer portal from the Hawkeyes. He left Iowa after playing for five seasons for his father coach Fran McCaffery.

The Butler commit posted a picture of his cleared dressing room locker on his Instagram story with his departure now a reality. He captioned the story:

"Been real."

McCaffery's IG stories

Patrick McCaffery gets the perfect transfer to Butler

The conditions for Patrick McCaffery to transfer to Butler all fell his way as his brother Connor McCaffery works for the Indiana Pacers and is in the same area that the ex-Iowa star will play his final season of college basketball.

It also happens to be the same area code where former Iowa Hawkeyes record-breaker Caitlin Clark, who is his brother's girlfriend, has started her WNBA career with the Indiana Fever.

McCaffery explained why he chose to go to Butler during his first in-house interview and pin-pointed the presence of his support system as key to his choice of destination.

"Obviously, the basketball situation has to be right," Patrick said. "There's a lot of boxes that needed to be checked there. That's why my visit last week went really well. … Having my brother there plays a big factor. He was friendly with a bunch of the guys on the staff there. He'd been to several practices and stuff. It definitely played a factor as well."

McCaffery could be a useful pickup for the Butler Bulldogs. He averaged 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season despite being mostly a bench option after taking a break to deal with anxiety issues during the season.

McCaffery is a threat from beyond the arc, averaging 32% and 75% from the charity stripes throughout his five-year career at Iowa. His father Fran McCaffery paid tribute to him after he announced his intention to enter the transfer portal.

“It’s been a great ride. Five years with him (Patrick). He’s an awesome teammate. He’s an awesome player," Fran McCaffery said... "Told him I loved him. And you think about his journey and how his role has changed a few times within the program. Just really proud of how he helped lead this team and what he meant to this program the last five years."

It will definitely help Patrick McCaffery settle better at his new program, having his brother Connor McCaffery and his girlfriend nearby.