Before he left the court after Columbus Africentric’s first win of the day at Ohio State’s recruiting camp, 2023 four-star small forward Dailyn Swain was pulled off to the side by head coach Chris Holtmann.
It wasn’t a long conversation, but it was an important one with the Buckeye head coach wanting to meet with Swain upstairs in his office to talk about what he thinks the incoming high school senior could do in his program.
And he left Swain with one thought.
“He actually just mentioned that, like he can see some point guard in my future,” Swain said.
That’s how Swain, who already holds an offer from Ohio State along with Indiana, Xavier, Marquette, Cincinnati and Arizona State, first learned the game of basketball.
The Columbus native took the court as a guard at first, developing ball handling and playmaking skills before a growth spurt expanded his game dramatically, giving him the ability to be the wing player that can guard every position from the point guard to the power forward, putting a heavy emphasis on his versatility.
“If I have a small guard on me, I can shoot over, put them in the post,” Swain said. “If there’s a big guy on me, I’m going to go by him and he’s usually going to be too slow to stay in front because I have guard skills.”
It's what the 2023 four-star small forward showed off against Reynoldsburg in the opening game of Ohio State's annual recruiting camp, seamlessly transitioning from taking the ball up the court, showcasing his ability to push the ball inside himself or stretch out for a 3, to cementing the paint on defense, using his size to be a matchup problem for any offensive player he was assigned to.
It's potential Holtmann has seen in Swain since Ohio State offered him nearly a year ago.
“With him, we have a good relationship,” the 2023 four-star small forward said of the Ohio State head coach. “He always stays in the mix, checks up on me, sees my progress. And he tells me what he thinks, like what he sees in my game and what I can do.”
As for the rest of the Ohio State coaching staff, Swain said that he talks to Jake Diebler the most. While the assistant coach doesn’t always tell him what he wants to hear, the small forward said the Buckeyes’ assistant coach tells him exactly what he needs to work on, and how his game molds into the program and its playing style.
It’s something Swain feels is representative of the Ohio State program as a whole.
“The program, the coaching staff, like they tell you a vision they have for you,” Swain said. “They don’t let you just think whatever you want to think. They tell you what it is and what you need to know.”
Swain doesn’t have a timeline for his recruitment to be complete yet.
The 2023 small forward has an official visit scheduled with Cal Berkley scheduled for the end of June and is working on more with schools including NC State.
Swain is just looking for a place where he can showcase the things he’s developing this summer: being able to be the point guard for Africentric and switch onto the best players on defense, making that more of a focal point in his game even if it means conserving some energy on the offensive end of the floor.
Swain knows Ohio State sees that potential in him. But he’s not sure if the Buckeyes’ program will be that right fit.
“I wouldn’t say it’s just another school, but I wouldn’t say it’s a leader either,” Swain said. “I feel like I’m feeling everybody out. I got a couple of schools coming in that haven’t offered yet that I really like too.”
