Fran McCaffery, wife release statement following son Jack's involvement in fatal car crash

Iowa men’s basketball head coach Fran McCaffery and his wife, Margaret, have released their statement after their son was involved in a fatal car crash. Jack McCaffery was driving home from school when he allegedly struck a pedestrian out for a jog in late May. That man, who was later identified by the McCaffreys as Sgt. Corey Hite, passed away due to injuries two weeks following the accident.

According to the statement, there is “no evidence” of Jack McCaffery driving while distracted and it has been called an “unavoidable accident.” At the end of the statement, Fran and Margaret McCaffery say Jack is still going through to grieving process of the accident.

“On May 22nd, just after leaving school, our 16-year-old son was the driver in a vehicle/pedestrian accident,” Fran and Margaret said. “Investigators have told us that it was an unavoidable accident with no evidence of distracted driving. The pedestrian, who was jogging at the time of the accident, was waved in front of our son’s passing vehicle by the driver of another vehicle. The jogger, Sgt. First Class Corey Hite, passes away two weeks after the accident from the injuries he sustained.

“We are devastated by this tragedy. SFC Hite’s family has our deepest sympathies. While our family continues to process the events of the past weeks and help our son cope with this accident, we will have no further comment at this time.”

KCCI in Des Moines says McCaffery has been cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Also in their report, it says “under Iowa law, a violation of this misdemeanor resulting in a death is punishable by a $1,000 fine, suspension of the driver’s license of up to 180 days, or both.”

Jack McCaffery is a basketball recruit out of Iowa City (IA) West Senior. He is a four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, ranking as the No. 68 player in the country and No. 1 in the state of Iowa. To this point, his only reported offer is from Wake Forest.

He is expected to be the latest of the McCaffery family to play college basketball. Both Connor McCaffery and Patrick McCaffery have played for the Hawkeyes in the past with their father serving as the head coach.

But for now, the focus of the McCaffery family is on the accident Jack was involved in. Helping him work through the process is priority No. 1.