The Shuffle Offense was originally designed by Bruce Drake, the head coach at the Univeristy of Oklahoma, in the early 1950's. It was designed to create a balanced attack usable against both man-to-man and zone defenses. And to also meet the basic tenets of sound offense.
The offense was formed around the basic shuffle cut and the change-of-sides (Basic Cut). These were the noted aspects of the offense.
In 1955 Bob Spear started the basketball program at the new Air Force Academy. And at the urging of a young assistant coach named Dean Smith installed the Shuffle. Coach Smith said that during his playing days at Kansas that more time was spent in preparation for Bruce Drake's Oklahoma Shuffle teams than any other teams.
In the years that followed, no coach ever looked forward to playing Coach Spear's teams, despite the fact that on paper they were invariably outmanned and appeared to be a cinch to beat. The Bob Spear Shuffle was a disciplined offense which varied slightly from the original Bruce Drake Shuffle.
Coach Smith also used the full Shuffle offense during his early head coaching years at the University of North Carolina. And only departed from the full Shuffle continuity when he recruited his first 6'10" pure center.
A few years after Bruce Drake had inaugurated the "Drake Shuffle" at Oklahoma University, Joel Eaves, basketball coach at Auburn University, began to modify and expand on the Shuffle. And had national fame heaped upon Auburn as they established a national record for field goal percentage using the Shuffle. It was perhaps Coach Eaves and the teams he coached who brought the most attention to the Shuffle Offense.