Keith Michael Swagerty (born October 30, 1945) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. A forward out of the University of the Pacific, he played two seasons in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA). Swagerty, a 6'7

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

out of Camden High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, played for

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

from 1964 to 1967. He was one of the most highly decorated players in Tiger history, as he was named West Coast Conference player of the year twice (1966 and 1967) and was a first team

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

and an honorable mention All-American as a senior. Swagerty averaged 20.1 points and 18.4 rebounds per game for his career and led the Tigers to their first NCAA tournament in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and their first NCAA tournament win in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, beating defending national champion

Texas Western The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

. He graduated as Pacific's all-time leading rebounder. Following his college career, Swagerty was drafted in both the

1967 NBA Draft The 1967 NBA draft was the 21st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 3 and 4, 1967 before the 1967–68 season. In this draft, 12 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

(fourth round, 36th pick) and in the 1967 ABA Draft by the

Houston Mavericks The Houston Mavericks were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). They played in the upstart league's first two seasons, from 1967 to 1969. Their home arena was the Sam Houston Coliseum. In 1947–48, there was an unrela ...

. Instead, he opted to play in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for Candy Bologna. He joined the ABA's Mavericks the following year ( 1968–69), averaging 12.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in 77 appearances. The next year, he played for the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

, averaging 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in three games.Swagerty at basketball-reference.com
accessed September 10, 2011 Swagerty then went into coaching, serving as head coach at

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the Seat ...

from 1974 to 1980. He amassed an 87-61 record at SPU, including a Division II NCAA tournament appearance in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

.Swagerty did it all for Tigers
accessed September 10, 2011 He left coaching in 1980 and went into private business. Keith Swagerty is the cousin of 1968 Olympic bronze-medalist

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

Jane Swagerty.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swagerty, Keith 1947 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from San Jose, California Centers (basketball) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Houston Mavericks draft picks Houston Mavericks players Kentucky Colonels players New York Knicks draft picks Pacific Tigers men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Seattle Pacific Falcons men's basketball coaches Virtus Bologna players

See also

References