A Much-Improved Dailyn Swain Is Carrying Texas Into March

Swain has done that and a lot more this season for Texas, which is fighting for its NCAA Tournament life down the stretch of the season. The Longhorns, who are among the Last Four Byes in Brad Wachtel’s latest Bubble Watch, have a huge opportunity to boost their bubble prospects at home versus Florida Wednesday night. Like every game Texas has played this season, Swain’s performance will go a long way toward determining the outcome. He leads the team in points (17.9 per game), rebounds (7.3), assists (3.3), steals (1.8) and minutes (31.4). He also improved his three-point shooting from 25.0 percent last season to 32.8. It’s clear why Sean Miller, who coached Swain the last two seasons at Xaiver, wanted him to come to Austin when Miller took over the Longhorns last spring. 

Swain — now a robust 225 pounds — has been a breakout star on a team that already had Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope, veteran stalwarts Miller and his staff inherited from former coach Rodney Terry. Swain is the only Power Four conference player to lead his team in five statistical categories. And here’s a trivia question for SEC basketball fans: What player leads the league in two-point field-goals? The obvious guesses would be Kentucky’s runaway locomotive layup maker/dunker Otega Oweh or perhaps one of two Florida big men, Alex Condon or Rueben Chinyelu. But the answer is Swain, who through games of Feb. 21 was 145 of 223 inside the arc.

Swain knows much of his success stems back to that advice he got from his parents many years ago. He wanted to continue competing against the best players in the country, so he complied with his parents’ wishes. Coupled with a growth spurt that began at Africentric Early College in Columbus, the pass-first point guard developed into a downhill driver few could stop, even though, after he stretched to 6-foot-7, he weighed less than 180 pounds. Despite his thin frame, Swain became a national Top 100 prospect and was chosen Ohio Division II Player of the Year in his junior and senior seasons.

When Miller began his second coaching stint at Xavier in 2022, he and his staff quickly discovered Swain and pursued him, undaunted by his weight — or lack thereof — and his age. He didn’t turn 18 until midway through his first summer with the Musketeers.

Swain developed quickly as his weight caught up to his length, and his point guard skills remained intact. He calls it progression obsession, getting lost in the journey and not worrying about the result. A stronger, tougher Swain made the Big East All-Freshman team in 2023-24, was a 33-game starter and with his versatile skillset helped lead Xavier to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, and now, after following Miller to Texas, has taken his game to an even higher level.

Swain also tops the league in effective field-goal percentage (61.4 percent) and is making 57.2 percent of his field goals, 65.0 percent of his two-point shots and 33.8 percent of his three-pointers. That later stat is important, because last summer, becoming more consistent from behind the arc was a major goal of Swain’s. He shot a combined 20.4 percent from three in his two seasons at Xavier. This season, with encouragement from his teammates, he hasn’t been afraid to incorporate the three into his arsenal.

Along with his ability to get to the rim or score on a variety of midrange shots, Swain’s improvement from three has made him a tough cover.

“He’s made an incredible jump this year,” says Texas assistant coach Adam Cohen, who was on Miller’s staff at Xavier. “I give him the most credit for that. Obviously, the SEC is at the highest level. Combine that with playing for a new team and what he’s done is impressive. The constant has been the system drills we do every day and the way we prepare for games. We got him as a 17-year-old, and he’s had 300 practices with us along with 100 to 200 individual workouts. All those times together with us has helped him build confidence.” 

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Last March, after Miller left for Texas, Swain had no doubt he wanted to follow. The trust Swain placed in Miller and his assistants is evidenced by the work Swain has put in on his jump shot. The staff, first at Xavier and more so at Texas, suggested radical changes. Swain incorporated them without hesitation.

“His left hand was far too much on the ball initially,” Cohen says. “Just being able to get that guide hand off the ball so it doesn’t impact the shot helped. He also had a dip in his shot. He’d catch the ball, dip, and go back up. We’ve showed him the proper footwork and getting low on the catch. He’s always been a great free-throw shooter. So we knew he could carry that over (to his three-point stroke).”

The Texas coaches weren’t worried about Swain getting shots up during the summer. His guide through the process of refining his stroke was Cam Miller, Sean’s son and the Longhorns’ video analytics coordinator.

“He got me on a consistent schedule doing the same warmup and the same workout,” Swain says. “It was all about confidence and reps. Once we got that schedule down pat, we just repped it out. I could feel the confidence in my shot grow.”

The Longhorns’ most experienced players — Pope (665 career three-point attempts) and Mark (520) — have never been shy about launching from behind the arc. They’ve encouraged Swain to let it fly.

“Those are guys who have had decorated careers,” Swain says. “Like almost 2,000-point career scorers (Mark is at 1,858, Pope 1,699). When you get encouraging words from guys like that, it’s huge. And Simeon Wilcher (a transfer from St. John’s) reminds me all the time, ‘Make them play you honest. Shoot your three.’ I’ve listened to what all of them and the coaches tell me.”

Swain has put together some monster games in SEC play — 34 points and 14 rebounds against Mississippi State, 30 points and 7 rebounds (on 4-of-7 three-point shooting) against Auburn, 29 points and 6 boards against Kentucky and 26 points and 6 rebounds against Georgia. What he’s done surprises no one on the Texas staff, least of all Miller.

“Dailyn is a throwback story in every sense of the word,” Miller says. “He was an entire calendar year younger than his class and at the time not recruited very highly. But we felt like we had a diamond in the rough and we bet on his talent. He’s highly intelligent and has really accepted coaching, accountability, and bought into everything we try to do.”

When Swain got to Xavier as a spindly 17-year-old, Miller immediately handed him over to strength coach Andy Kettler. “I got a young guy who was all arms and legs and was willing to work,” Kettler tells Hoops HQ. The first thing Kettler wanted Swain to do was simple — eat more. “You’d be shocked at how many college kids don’t eat three meals a day,” Kettler says.

Swain became a regular at the training table, not as easy as it sounds. His job was to eat a meal at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. “When we first started it wasn’t specific things I was eating,” Swain says. “We just wanted calories. Then we moved on to high protein and good carbs.”

Kettler, who shares Miller’s belief that basketball players gain confidence from strength, then put Swain through his paces in the weight room. “I’m sure he had days when he was thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’” Kettler says. “We had some rough days to start where he didn’t make it through a workout, or he barely made it through a workout. There were many ups and downs along the way, but that’s what makes the journey special. And this is important to point out. Dailyn did all the work. I was his coach, trying to help him develop — on and off the court.” 

Everything Swain has learned and accomplished to date has been on a path he’s charted, and he’s remained on course, regardless of the inevitable twists and turns he’s encountered.

“That’s been the story of my life,” Swain says. “Not just basketball. My mom and I have always talked about falling in love with the journey, not the result. The beauty is in the journey.”

Swain’s parents haven’t been afraid to let Miller and his staff become their son’s sherpa through this stage of his travels.

“His family has allowed us to coach him,” Miller says. “Playing for the same team and the same staff has allowed Dailyn to make incremental development. My hope is he can really hit his stride down the stretch (of this season). If you look at all the statistical categories he leads us in… I don’t know if there’s a player who means as much to his team as Dailyn does to Texas.”