Mark Risser waited for his time to come. He was "content" in his possession as an assistant, but now, he's got big shoes to fill as he's now the new basketball head coach at McDevitt. In his words, "It's Bishop McDevitt, and everybody wants that job", but his familiarity with the program plus the good things spoken about him from Coach Gaffey and others, landed him the job with the team.
Coach Risser told me on July 1 that he felt like the #1 Pick in the NBA Draft when he received the call from Tommy Mealy informing him of his hire. "I was speechless", Risser said. "When you get that call, it's like wow, I can just breathe a little bit." But, there was little breathing to be done before he sprung into action. While Risser says he was assigned to summer activities regardless of whether he was head coach or not, it was just 5 days between his hire and the start of the 1st ever McDevitt youth camp. The camp was a success, hosting Penn State's John Harrar, attracting media, and ultimately hosting tons of kids.
Risser was no stranger to Coach Mike Gaffey when he came to McDevitt in 2014. "He was my teacher in second grade, and I remember him introducing me to the game of basketball." "Being passed the torch is just unreal."Risser claims that the knowledge he gained from knowing Coach Gaffey for so long is why he's confident that his work at McDevitt will keep the program strong.
Risser explained to me that he had talked to Coach Gaffey about a potential package deal, Risser and Gaffey, both going to Mechanicsburg, and after long conversations, Risser decided that "McDevitt is my home, and it's treated my like a family."
The full interview with Coach Gaffey, plus his successor, Mark Risser will be available Monday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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