This star swimmer can't wait to go to Penn State

Shane Ryan committed to Penn State on a swim scholarship around late October, in a simpler time, back when the university was viewed merely as the bedrock of an otherwise sleepy town in the heart of the commonwealth.

Some things, of course, have changed dramatically. Ryan's resolve hasn't. The Haverford High senior - all 6-foot-6 of him - has stood firm in his commitment to the Nittany Lions, signing a letter of intent a few weeks ago.

"Once that went down," Ryan said of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, "I was, like, it has nothing to do with the swim team. It has nothing to do with anything you do with the swim team. . . . It has nothing to do with me, so I'm not worried about it.

"It sucks because Penn State was such a school that went by the book, basically, and had such a good reputation and one man had to bring it down. But, I mean, Penn State is still Penn State. Awesome academic program up there, and to be up there, it's just unbelievable."

Ryan, who swims for the Fords and the Radnor Aquatic Club, has qualified for next year's U.S. Olympic trials in the 100-meter backstroke, and he is a two-time PIAA state champion, having won the 100-yard backstroke as a sophomore and the 200 freestyle last season.

He went on three official college visits: to Penn State, Tennessee, and Auburn. The Nittany Lions and Tennessee extended full scholarships, he said, and Auburn offered 75 percent.

Not wanting to come out of college with debt - especially in this economy, Ryan said - he chose Penn State.

After Ryan's commitment, and after the scandal broke, Nittany Lions coach John Hargis called him to make sure his decision was steadfast.

Hargis said he told Ryan that "success with honor's never been more important than it is going to be now. I asked him if he or his family had any questions from our standpoint, and just wanted to reassure him that Penn State swimming and diving as well as the university are moving forward, and at the end of the day it's going to make us all stronger and better."

Asked if the accusations against Sandusky had affected recruiting, Hargis said, "No, they really haven't. At the end, I think it was more of parents and kids just wanting to be reassured that everything was going to be OK, and once you told them everything was just going to be fine, it was."

As a sophomore at Haverford, Ryan made his breakthrough in swimming.

Somehow, he said, after he returned from a bout with mononucleosis, his times started dropping. He went on to win the Class AAA state title in the 100 backstroke in a state-record 48.67 seconds.

This past March, he won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 38.36 seconds and tried to defend his 100-backstroke championship. He surpassed his state mark with a 47.53 in the finals, but Hershey's David Nolan, now a freshman at Stanford, won in a blazing 45.49, a national high school record.