Gonzaga keying in on athletic, versatile Texas wing Dailyn Swain | Key matchup
PORTLAND – We had the key matchup space ready for AJ Dybantsa. We’re handing it off to another long, athletic, jack-of-all trades wing that’s populated NBA Draft boards for the last five months.
Gonzaga won’t have to prepare for BYU’s generational freshman after Dybantsa bowed out of the NCAA Tournament with 35 points in a 79-71 loss to Texas.
The consolation prize for Mark Few’s team in Saturday’s Round of 32 game at the Moda Center? Texas junior Dylan Swain, a 6-foot-8 wing who’s been rising up mock drafts and keeping the Longhorns’ season alive with his steady play in recent days and weeks.
Swain may not possess Dybantsa’s ceiling, but he’s been just as valuable to a Texas team that earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and required victories over North Carolina State and BYU to set up Saturday’s 4:10 p.m. (TBS) matchup with Gonzaga in the Rose City.
The Columbus, Ohio, native is leading Texas in four major statistical categories – points (17.6), rebounds (7.5), assists (3.5), steals (1.7) – and it still doesn’t represent everything he’s done for the Longhorns in year one of the Sean Miller era.
“He’s meant a lot to us,” senior guard Chendall Weaver said. “Since the summer, he’s been one of our vocal leaders, just him knowing Sean Miller, how Sean wants to play, he’s trying to teach us the ways. He’s been a lot to us.”
Swain was one of two players that transferred from Xavier to Texas when Miller accepted a job with the Longhorns this offseason after spending the last three years with the Musketeers. Miller communicated his expectations to Swain before the season started.
“I think coach Miller painted that picture super clear for me, even in the recruiting pitch,” Swain said. “Stepping into that leadership in that third year, knowing I’d make the leap I did and I think it’s been super impactful, helping these guys from a player’s perspective. …
“Sometimes as a coach you want to go at your guys, but maybe that’s not the right approach when you’re trying to learn a certain thing so I can pull them to the side and go, ‘hey, he wants you to do this instead of this.’ ”
Swain’s numbers speak for themselves.
He’s reached double figures in 31 of 34 games and secured his eighth double-double of the year in Texas’ 76-66 loss to Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Swain has season highs of 34 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
“Dailyn had an amazing season, he’s playing really well,” Texas center Matas Vokietaitis said. “He can do everything on the court. He can drive it, he can shoot, he can pass, he can rebound. He’s a very important player. I think one of the most important players on the team this season.”
Gonzaga can go in a handful of different ways with the Swain matchup, but senior wing Jalen Warley should be the primary defender on Texas’ versatile junior when the ball tips on Saturday. Warley had 12 points, 12 rebounds and five steals in Thursday’s win over Kennesaw State and estimated he was 95% back to full health – the best he’s felt since injuring his quad on Feb. 4.
“I think they’re a well-rounded team,” Swain said of Gonzaga. “They play together, they’re a really good orchestrated team and they take pride in defense and keeping guys out of the paint, rebounding, playing fast off of turnovers and missed shots.”
Gonzaga freshman Davis Fogle, one of three or four players who could find himself guarding Swain, gave an idea of what to expect from the Texas junior on Saturday.
“Super good player, really good downhill driver, gets to the line at a high rate which is big in today’s game,” Fogle said. “And he can hit open shots too.”