One of the best stretches of basketball in University of Virginia first-year Francisco Caffaro’s young basketball career came last June, when he helped Argentina capture the bronze medal at the 2018 FIBA Americas 18-and-under Championships. The 7’0” center, a 2018 graduate of the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia, averaged 16.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game on his way to being named to the All-Star Five – a distinction given to the five best performers in this world competition. Caffaro turned in one of his best performances – 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks – against gold medal-winning Team USA, which featured North Carolina point guard Coby White and Kansas wing Quentin Grimes, who also earned All-Star Five honors.

Unfortunately for Caffaro, a left leg injury prevented him the opportunity to build upon his FIBA Americas performance in his first year at the University of Virginia. He underwent surgery last summer and needed six or seven months to recover fully. Caffaro wasn’t cleared to practice until roughly a month-and-half ago.

“Good,” Caffaro answered when asked how his time in Charlottesville has gone. “I’m actually enjoying it a lot. It was hard at the beginning. I wasn’t able to practice. A big reason why I came here was basketball. Not being able to practice and having to do hard school work, it was tough. It was just something I had to do. The coaches helped a lot.”

The injury made the transition to Virginia a challenge. However, the camaraderie Caffaro experienced with the coaches and players “went over my expectations. Everybody treats everybody with respect. It’s easy to get along with everyone.”

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