Kansas won the NCAA tourney in April and Golden State won the NBA Finals in June but there is still 1 more basketball champion to be crowned this summer. The Basketball Tournament (aka the TBT) kicks off on July 16th with 8 regions of 8 teams playing in Dayton/New Mexico/Omaha/Rucker Park/Syracuse/West Virginia/Wichita/Xavier. Each region will send 1 team to the quarterfinals, with the championship game taking place during the 1st weekend of August, and the winning team walking away with a $1 million prize. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the weeks ahead interviewing as many TBT participants as possible. We continue our coverage with Azar Swain, who will be playing for The Nerd Team after finishing his senior season at Yale as the best FT shooter in the conference and the best 3-PT shooter in school history.
You were born/raised in Massachusetts and were named state Gatorade POY as a senior at The Rivers School: what made you choose Yale? Ever since I was in middle school I had wanted to attend an Ivy League university. After my sophomore year I got offers from Yale/Brown so I had to choose 1 of them…and I loved my choice.
In the 2019 Ivy tourney title game you scored 15 PTS and had 0 TO in a win over Harvard: how unstoppable was Bryce Aiken (38 PTS in 35 minutes), and how do you describe the rivalry to someone who has never seen it in person? Every game in the rivalry is intense/ultra-competitive. Even before I went to Yale I looked up to Bryce as a small guard who had his way with Ivy League defenses. I am just glad we came out victorious and that I had a role in that championship.
In the 2019 NCAA tourney you scored 12 PTS in a 5-PT loss to LSU: how close did you come to pulling off the upset? That was 1 of the only games of my career that I have never gone back to watch afterward. A lot of things needed to go wrong for us if LSU wanted to win…and a lot of things went wrong for us. I wish that I could have done more.
In 2020 you finished 10th in the nation with 3.21 3PM and your 271 career 3PM is the most in school history: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? My immediate thought is that I hope someone breaks it. What is so unique about my experience is that I was given a chance to play almost 20 minutes/game as a freshman. Coach James Jones trusted me to make plays, which built my confidence/freedom early on. The key to making threes is repetition: you need to be detailed and approach it in a game-like manner so that it becomes 2nd nature to you.
In 2021 the entire Ivy League season was canceled due to COVID: what was your reaction when you heard the news, and what did you do for 12 months? It was tough. We were the 1st league to shut things down. It was a very emotional time to end our season so abruptly because we thought that we could make some real noise that year. I took a gap year and was actually home for 18 months. I had some great work opportunities and also worked on my game with my dad.
Last January you scored a career-high 37 PTS/14-20 FG in a win over Columbia: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yes. They did not give me any sort of special treatment as a defense so I just tried to be aggressive. All league games matter, especially in the Ivy League, and once my shots started falling the rim looked like a lake!
In the 2022 NCAA tourney you scored 18 PTS in a loss to Purdue: where does Jaden Ivey (22 PTS) rank among the greatest players that you have ever faced? That is a tough 1. I would probably say he is in the top-5. I played against several future NBA players during AAU ball including Bam Adebayo/LaMelo Ball. I enjoyed the type of competitor that Jaden is, and he is a great person as well.
As a senior your 89.1 FT% was #1 in the conference: what is the key to making FTs? In addition to repetition, you have to stay true to your ritual and not try to change it up too much. FTs are the easiest shots you will get during a game so you have to capitalize.
This month you will be playing for The Nerd Team in the TBT: how is the team looking so far, and what will you do with your share of the $1 million prize money if you win it all? I have tried to not put any expectations on our team. We have been able to put a really good team together, including a lot of guys who I have played with/against, so I think that we have enough talent to win it all.
You majored in economics: what is the post-TBT plan either on or off the court? To be announced, very soon! I will most likely head to New York after the TBT.
