Photo courtesy of UAB Athletics.
Jordan Swing
Swing’s strengths on offense include shooting and attacking off ball screens. The 6-foot-6 guard/forward, who averaged nearly 10 points and four rebounds in his three seasons at UAB, still chases a dream to play in the NBA but is content to be where he’s at now.
Basketball is more than just a game or a way to make a living for former Vestavia Hills High standout Jordan Swing.
Perhaps most importantly, according to Swing, it’s a way for him to share his faith.
“I believe God has me playing basketball, so that wherever I go I can spread his word,” said Swing, who began his college career at Western Kentucky before finishing at UAB. “I’m kind of like a missionary that happens to be a pro basketball player. I like to use the platform that God has blessed me with (basketball) to have opportunities to spread his word.”
Swing — who won a state championship at Vestavia and was the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year in 2009 — has been busy with basketball and sharing his faith since concluding his college career in March of 2014.
He joined the NBA D-League with the Canton Charge, a team affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers, in September of that year and made an impact quickly.
However, he chose to leave that opportunity to play for the Lakeside Lightning, a second division team in Australia’s State Basketball League. Swing averaged 27 points and eight rebounds per game and played in the league’s All-Star game.
“The NBDL was a great experience,” Swing said. “I got to play with and against some great competition and it really helped better my game. But while I was getting a lot of minutes at the beginning of the year, it slowly got inconsistent and I felt like if I stayed I wasn’t going to have a really good year. In late January, I left and went and played in Australia and the timing was perfect because the league I went to didn’t start until March and then ran through the summer.”
A week after that season finished, he was on his way to Spain to play for a second division team — LEB Gold Club Oviedo — before being called up to the first division in January.
He’s now playing for CAI Zaragoza in what Swing says is “considered the second or third best league in the world behind the NBA.”
The 6-foot-6 guard/forward, who averaged nearly 10 points and four rebounds in his three seasons at UAB, still chases a dream to play in the NBA but is content to be where he’s at now.
“The opportunity in Spain came about through prayer and hard work,” Swing said. “God kept me healthy and I had a really good year down in Australia, and my agent (Danny Servick) did a great job working his contacts and got me a deal.”
On the court, Swing is flourishing. He said the style of play suits his basketball strengths.
“I come off a lot of ball screens and get to do a lot of attacking and creating for others which, I think I am best at,” Swing said.
Off the court, the adjustment is a bit more difficult. The language barrier isn’t easy to overcome, and homesickness is an issue. He is not accustomed to the local community “siesta,” with businesses closing for three hours in the afternoon. His family visited during the Christmas holidays, but, for the most part, his teammates are his local support group.
“Working and living outside of the states can be hard at times,” Swing said. “You really miss hanging out with friends and family and people who speak your language. The thing I miss the most is my No. 1, 12-piece nugget and Arnold Palmer from Chick-fil-A. I would pay a lot of money for that meal right now.”
The food, Swing said, has actually been a pleasant surprise, as long as he’s not doing the cooking.
“I’ve learned that I’m a terrible cook and I need my mom,” Swing said. “But I’ve learned a lot about myself. It’s tough being on your own in a foreign country. I think the thing that has grown the most with me is my relationship with God. Since I’ve been in Spain that’s the relationship that keeps me going.”
