by John Y. Wehmueller | Staff Writer
Hood College doesn’t lock the door to its basketball gymnasium, a fact 2004 Magruder graduate Ryan Junghans takes full advantage of.
‘‘Almost on a daily basis, you’ll hear a ball bouncing in there,” Hood men’s basketball coach Tom Dickman said. ‘‘When he gets shots in games, he’s probably shot that shot a million times by himself in the gym. ... Some other players feel like they’re entitled to make shots. He doesn’t feel like that. He earns his shots.”
Last week, Junghans was named to the Capital Athletic Conference all-league first team for the second straight year. The 5-foot-10 junior from Derwood averaged a team-leading 20.0 points per game, the third-best average in the CAC. He also hit 95.9 percent of his free throws for the season, the second-best percentage in all of the NCAA, Divisions I, II and III.
Junghans has now made the all-league team in both of his seasons at Hood, a Division III program in Frederick. He broke the school’s single-game scoring record on Feb. 2, with 47 points in an overtime win over Gallaudet. A week later, he scored his 1,000th career point.
‘‘Towards the middle and end of last season, teams started keying on me, denying me the ball,” Junghans said. ‘‘But always, if I get a little spacing, I’ve got to shoot. It’s been the same since high school, middle school, whenever. I’m a shooter. ...
‘‘I’ve definitely had to work a little harder for it. I run a little harder coming off screens, setting my man up. I’ve had to learn different things about how to get open, and it’s paid off.”
After graduating Magruder, Junghans chose Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., but only stayed for a semester before returning to Maryland and St. Mary’s College. He sat out a year due to injury and transferred again, this time finding a home at Hood.
The Blazers won the CAC regular-season title and reached the NCAA Division III Tournament last year, with Junghans averaging 20.5 points per game. This year, the team suffered the midseason loss of forward Jesse Gutekunst, with whom Junghans formed a potent inside-out combination, and finished 15-11.
Junghans will return next year, looking for his third all-conference honor and second trip to NCAAs. After that, he’ll look into an overseas playing career, but said he wants to teach and coach basketball in the long run.
‘‘All my free time has always been devoted to basketball; I just love to shoot, love to play,” he said. ‘‘In high school, my goal was to get a scholarship, but that never happened. ... Now, for the most part I’m playing because that’s what I love to do. When you’re in college, and a professional career might not be in the future, I think it’s more about team goals.”
