Swanson Quits Basketball to Concentrate on High Jump

Cal State Northridge senior guard David Swanson, who did not accompany the Matadors on their most recent trip, is no longer on the basketball team.

After a meeting Wednesday with Swanson, Coach Pete Cassidy announced that Swanson, who also competes for the Northridge track and field team, will turn his attention to the high jump.

“I just felt in light of the entire situation with David, his interests and so forth, that the best thing for him to do is concentrate on track,” Cassidy said. “He seemed to agree with that.

“I just don’t think he was committed (to basketball). I want him happy and I don’t think he was happy with the role he had in the program. I understand that. Now, he doesn’t have to wait until the end of the (basketball) season to concentrate on the high jump.”

Swanson, who was unavailable for comment, is on a combination basketball, track and field scholarship.

On Saturday, he will compete in the high jump in a triangular indoor meet at Northern Arizona’s Walkup Skydome.

Swanson said Jan. 21 that he did not make the three-game trip because he didn’t expect much playing time and therefore did not want to miss the first two days of the spring semester.

Swanson was averaging 4.2 points and 8.9 minutes a game. He did not play in the two games before the trip although as recently as Jan. 7 he scored 14 points in 18 minutes in an 83-81 win over Fort Lewis College.

Last season, Swanson, a 1987 graduate of Alemany High, averaged 7.0 points in 12.2 minutes. He shot 43% from the field and 43% from three-point range, where he scored 90 of his 188 points.