Ryan Shaffer to continue playing hoops

Ryan Shaffer and numerous Waynesboro Area Senior High School graduates are eager to turn the page of life, one that includes some strong memories of amazing success on the basketball court. Shaffer, the son of Scott and Kathy Shaffer of Waynesboro, will attend McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Shaffer will major in criminal justice and play basketball for the Green Terror, who are coached by Kevin Curley. “I was on my phone one day and I got a text from (assistant coach Carson Garvis),” said Shaffer. “He saw me play in the summer. Basically, he texted me and told me he was interested and wanted to see me play. I went on a visit and liked what I saw.” Shaffer said he was in the process of looking at potential colleges and added “I had never heard of McDaniel. I was kind of caught off guard, but I was pretty happy about it. I think it will be a good fit. I’m ready to go.” McDaniel is an NCAA Division III program that competes in the Centennial Conference with Johns Hopkins, Franklin & Marshall, Bryn Mawr, Ursinus, Washington College, Haverford, Swarthmore, Dickinson, Muhlenberg and Gettysburg. Shaffer has been used to playing an up-tempo style of basketball under veteran high school coach Tom Hoffman. He said McDaniel plays more of a half-court, ball-control offense. “McDaniel likes to run their plays and sets. They do run a lot of pick and rolls,” Shaffer said. “(Garvis) told me he liked a lot of the physical aspect, my athleticism. It seemed to be a team that likes to shoot threes, which isn’t my strong suit.” Shaffer said that McDaniel lost only two players to graduation a season ago, and there’s “only two or three of us coming in,” Shaffer said. “They are sophomore and junior heavy.” Shaffer was a key contributor on a team that won 38 games the past two seasons. During the 2022-23 season, the Indians ran the table in the Mid-Penn Colonial Division (14-0) and advanced to the school’s first-ever PIAA tournament. “I was blessed to be part of a special team and a special class,” Shaffer said. “We wouldn’t have won that many games without my teammates, we had the same goal in mind, we wanted to win. We’d go to the YMCA and play two-on-two or three-on-three.” After the season, Shaffer started participating in open gyms at McDaniel. “Every Wednesday we played pickup basketball,” Shaffer said. “I’m familiar with the coaching staff. I’m just working really hard, see what happens. I think I can make an impact right away. I think I have what it takes to impact the team from day one. If I get an opportunity, that’s great.” Shaffer is also playing park league hoops in Hagerstown with players from the Frederick and Hagerstown areas. He said he is “working out a lot, doing a lot more lifting, trying to get more physically prepared.” Shaffer played baseball as a youngster but gave up the sport in 2020 to concentrate on basketball. A big influence on him growing up was older brother Bryce, himself a major player in a Waynesboro uniform. “When we were growing up, we both really liked baseball,” Shaffer said. “We didn’t care about basketball that much when we were in elementary school. When we were in seventh or eighth grade, we played one-on-one every day for hours. He was always bigger and stronger than me. He was pretty good at basketball, too. He gave me somebody to play against that was better than me; he was always a better shooter than me, so I tried to pick up some things.” Ryan Shaffer played travel baseball in middle school and was on the junior varsity team “when COVID hit and then I gave up baseball.” Bryce will be a junior at York College, where he plays baseball. While he is waiting for August to report to campus for the fall semester, Ryan said he plays golf almost every day. “That’s definitely my favorite hobby,” he said. “I think I’m at Waynesboro Country Club every day of the week. I play with Michael Young and sometimes with Evan Stein.”