Transfer of Power : Courting a Dream to Play Basketball,Track Standout Leaped From CSUN to Glendale

Anyone who knew David Swanson could see that he had an ailing jump shot. And everyone he knew offered a reason.

Swanson needed to slow down. He needed to speed up. He had to stop forcing shots. He had to stop passing them up.

The remedies poured in from his Glendale College coaches and teammates and other would-be shot doctors--all to no avail.

“I’ve never had a year where the shot just hasn’t been there,” said Swanson, who averaged nearly 20 points a game as a senior at Alemany High in 1987. “This year they just weren’t falling. It was frustrating, no matter how hard I tried, they just weren’t going in.”

The fever broke last Thursday when Swanson scored 21 points--including 5 3-point baskets--in the first half of the Vaqueros’ Western State Conference win over Oxnard.

“We saw him in a tournament earlier this year where he didn’t shoot the ball well,” Oxnard Coach Remy McCarthy said after the game. “We were going to make him prove he could score against us. I guess he proved it tonight.”

Swanson, 19, is out to prove he made the correct decision to transfer after spending last season as a redshirt on the Cal State Northridge basketball team and an All-American high jumper for the Matador track team.

Swanson finished sixth at the Division II track championships after clearing 7 feet, 1/4 inches.

“He has potential to be world class in the high jump,” Northridge Coach Don Strametz said. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Swanson, however, doubted that he would be given much playing time for the Northridge basketball team this season and that led to his decision to transfer.

At Alemany, he had been a scorer, a two-time All-Del Rey League forward and team leader who led the Indians to the 1987 league title.

After receiving several scholarship offers for either track or basketball, Swanson chose Northridge, where he could pursue both sports.

“I love playing basketball,” he said. “I couldn’t give it up.”

Swanson, however, did not envision the difficulty in making the jump from high school to college basketball.

When practice began at Northridge he quickly discovered that the players were bigger and more experienced than he anticipated. His lack of off-season preparation became obvious.

“Basically, I didn’t work (out) over the summer,” Swanson said. “I didn’t know the step would be that high. When I got there it was too late to just flick it on.”

During the season, Swanson practiced with the team and watched the games from the sidelines. He impressed the Northridge coaching staff with his offensive abilities, but he knew his defense needed vast improvement.

“I talked to Coach Cassidy at the end of the year and he was very honest with me,” Swanson said. “He told me, ‘We know you can score, but we can’t use you if you can’t play defense.’ ”

Rather than riding the bench at Northridge, Swanson contacted Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin, whose son, Jon, had played with Swanson at Alemany.

Swanson made one request: Teach me to play defense.

“Every day, his defense gets better,” Beauchemin said. “When he first got here he had some difficulties technique-wise. I think he’s begun to realize there’s more to it (the game) than putting the ball in the hole.”

Swanson also has learned about the mental aspect of his shooting ability.

For much of this season, Swanson’s mind was full of doubts. The game, he said, no longer seemed fun. A trying end to a long personal relationship coupled with uncertainty over the direction of his academic and athletic career sapped his concentration on and off the court.

“I finally sat down with my parents and talked about things,” Swanson said. “It made me feel much better.

“Going into the Oxnard game, I really felt good. For the first time, I really wanted to play. Everything seemed to come back together.”

After the season, Swanson will either compete for the Glendale track team or redshirt and compete next year after his sophomore season of basketball.

“Most of the world-class high jumpers are in their mid-to-late 20s,” Swanson said. “That’s when you really start to mature. So if I can go on and play basketball I can still pursue track.

“Right now, it just feels good to be having fun again.”