Boston College Athletics
The Wait is Almost Over for Cameron Swartz
July 18, 2019 | Women's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
The Colorado transfer will have serious impact when she's ready to play in January.
Cameron Swartz knows a good basketball story when she sees it. A player from Marietta, Ga. seizes an opportunity to play in college on the West Coast before opening a decision to play elsewhere. It helps pave a path directly to Boston, where hardwood dreams can finally be realized.
That seemed to work out well for Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, who is also a Marietta native.
Swartz might not be a budding professional superstar like the Brown, but she enters 2019-20 with hopes that she can make an impact. As a transfer last year from Colorado, she will sit out the first semester as a continuation of her year-long sabbatical before joining Boston College in game action this past winter.
"I knew I would play college basketball when I came out of high school," Swartz said. "This was never the journey that I thought I would take though. I never thought about transferring, but I'm really excited for this team (at BC). We've been working so hard, and I'm just excited to see the outcome of what we're doing."
It's a reboot of a college career that barely began before her arrival in Chestnut Hill. She appeared in seven games for the Buffaloes but scored 19 points in her last two appearances. It included a 12-point breakout against Prairie View as she shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in 17 minutes and concluded with a seven points against Samford.
"During Christmas, I decided that I wanted to transfer (from Colorado)," Swartz said. "I let my coaches know and thanked them for the opportunity that they gave me, and I wish them nothing but the best of luck in everything.
"After that, I had college calls for four or five days on the phone, but I knew exactly what I wanted since it was my second time (selecting a college)," she continued. "I took two visits, one of which was to BC, and I just fell in love with Boston College. The team had no drama or cliques, and it just felt so together."
That love allowed BC to acquire a player that will make an immediate impact once she is fully eligible to play. Swartz was Georgia's state leading scorer during her senior year of high school and finished her career with just over 1,800 points and rebounds. She was a first-team all-state selection at Fellowship Christian School where she averaged 32 points per game. Swartz was known as one of the sharpest shooters on the high school circuit.
Swartz also played for Team Elite in Georgia as part of the AAU system, leading the team to a Nike National EYBL championship.
"My high school gave me the opportunity to work on the skills that I wanted to develop, while I was also developing on the court," Swartz said. "I had accolades where I passed 1,500 points and led the state in scoring, but I was coming from a small school, so I didn't have the level that could have prepared me for college. So I played for a really good AAU program that got me seen by coaches, which is what I wanted, and it provided me the opportunities when we won Nike nationals."
It was an entire package of development, but it didn't quite prepare her to immediately play in college. There was a learning curve, as there often is for freshmen, which led her to a reset with the Eagles. There are silver linings in being forced to wait to play, especially in terms of understanding the game speed.
Swartz, for example, has size and speed, with the ability to pull her trigger on shooting from anywhere on the court.
Those skills will find a home in BC Head Coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee's offense, where energy and fluidity encourages players to put the ball on target. It creates controlled chaos for opposing defenses because it's built by hustle, grit and teamwork, more so than rigid system passes. Having the year to sit and absorb that style will allow for her to transition to a point guard style, and it will enhance her abilities before being forced to apply the lessons in games.
"I love Coach Mac's style," Swartz said. "She wants to go fast, and it's not robotic. You don't have to run plays in certain styles. There's cutting and moving, and that's what I want to do. We focus on being a good percentage shooting team, but we want to get shots up. I think shooting is one of my stronger abilities, and her game hasn't shied away from what I was told when I visited BC. They want me to be a point guard, which is a learning step, but I'm already developing so much because of these last months from when I got (to BC).
"There's a rebuild here with four really great coaches who all do something different," she continued. "(Assistant coach Yolanda Griffith) has experience as being one of the greatest players who ever played (as the 1999 WNBA MVP). Coach Mac played my position and understands so much about skills development. Coach Porcha (Assistant Coach George Porcha) is one of the most skilled development coaches around. (Assistant coach AJ Cohen) is a younger coach who can really relate to us. That just presented the perfect opportunity, and when I sat down with my family, I decided on BC because there's a great education and great basketball here."
So maybe it wasn't the path that Swartz expected when she was piling up points in Georgia. Like Jaylen Brown, she hopes a Marietta native can find basketball greatness in Boston after spending a little bit of time in the Pac-12. She has to wait a few more months, but nobody will appreciate a jersey quite like someone who went from Cobb County to the Rocky Mountain altitude and to the New England winter.
"I can't wait to put my name on a jersey and represent my town, my family and everything," Swartz said. "I think about the fact that I haven't played in a real basketball game in a long time, and it's killed me. I want to play. Waiting and getting closer is definitely going to make me more antsy and more excited and ready to go. It's been hard to put in the work in practice and not be able to put it on the court, but it's allowed me to take the time to calm down, to develop and to be ready."
That seemed to work out well for Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, who is also a Marietta native.
Swartz might not be a budding professional superstar like the Brown, but she enters 2019-20 with hopes that she can make an impact. As a transfer last year from Colorado, she will sit out the first semester as a continuation of her year-long sabbatical before joining Boston College in game action this past winter.
"I knew I would play college basketball when I came out of high school," Swartz said. "This was never the journey that I thought I would take though. I never thought about transferring, but I'm really excited for this team (at BC). We've been working so hard, and I'm just excited to see the outcome of what we're doing."
It's a reboot of a college career that barely began before her arrival in Chestnut Hill. She appeared in seven games for the Buffaloes but scored 19 points in her last two appearances. It included a 12-point breakout against Prairie View as she shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in 17 minutes and concluded with a seven points against Samford.
"During Christmas, I decided that I wanted to transfer (from Colorado)," Swartz said. "I let my coaches know and thanked them for the opportunity that they gave me, and I wish them nothing but the best of luck in everything.
"After that, I had college calls for four or five days on the phone, but I knew exactly what I wanted since it was my second time (selecting a college)," she continued. "I took two visits, one of which was to BC, and I just fell in love with Boston College. The team had no drama or cliques, and it just felt so together."
That love allowed BC to acquire a player that will make an immediate impact once she is fully eligible to play. Swartz was Georgia's state leading scorer during her senior year of high school and finished her career with just over 1,800 points and rebounds. She was a first-team all-state selection at Fellowship Christian School where she averaged 32 points per game. Swartz was known as one of the sharpest shooters on the high school circuit.
Swartz also played for Team Elite in Georgia as part of the AAU system, leading the team to a Nike National EYBL championship.
"My high school gave me the opportunity to work on the skills that I wanted to develop, while I was also developing on the court," Swartz said. "I had accolades where I passed 1,500 points and led the state in scoring, but I was coming from a small school, so I didn't have the level that could have prepared me for college. So I played for a really good AAU program that got me seen by coaches, which is what I wanted, and it provided me the opportunities when we won Nike nationals."
It was an entire package of development, but it didn't quite prepare her to immediately play in college. There was a learning curve, as there often is for freshmen, which led her to a reset with the Eagles. There are silver linings in being forced to wait to play, especially in terms of understanding the game speed.
Swartz, for example, has size and speed, with the ability to pull her trigger on shooting from anywhere on the court.
Those skills will find a home in BC Head Coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee's offense, where energy and fluidity encourages players to put the ball on target. It creates controlled chaos for opposing defenses because it's built by hustle, grit and teamwork, more so than rigid system passes. Having the year to sit and absorb that style will allow for her to transition to a point guard style, and it will enhance her abilities before being forced to apply the lessons in games.
"I love Coach Mac's style," Swartz said. "She wants to go fast, and it's not robotic. You don't have to run plays in certain styles. There's cutting and moving, and that's what I want to do. We focus on being a good percentage shooting team, but we want to get shots up. I think shooting is one of my stronger abilities, and her game hasn't shied away from what I was told when I visited BC. They want me to be a point guard, which is a learning step, but I'm already developing so much because of these last months from when I got (to BC).
"There's a rebuild here with four really great coaches who all do something different," she continued. "(Assistant coach Yolanda Griffith) has experience as being one of the greatest players who ever played (as the 1999 WNBA MVP). Coach Mac played my position and understands so much about skills development. Coach Porcha (Assistant Coach George Porcha) is one of the most skilled development coaches around. (Assistant coach AJ Cohen) is a younger coach who can really relate to us. That just presented the perfect opportunity, and when I sat down with my family, I decided on BC because there's a great education and great basketball here."
So maybe it wasn't the path that Swartz expected when she was piling up points in Georgia. Like Jaylen Brown, she hopes a Marietta native can find basketball greatness in Boston after spending a little bit of time in the Pac-12. She has to wait a few more months, but nobody will appreciate a jersey quite like someone who went from Cobb County to the Rocky Mountain altitude and to the New England winter.
"I can't wait to put my name on a jersey and represent my town, my family and everything," Swartz said. "I think about the fact that I haven't played in a real basketball game in a long time, and it's killed me. I want to play. Waiting and getting closer is definitely going to make me more antsy and more excited and ready to go. It's been hard to put in the work in practice and not be able to put it on the court, but it's allowed me to take the time to calm down, to develop and to be ready."
Players Mentioned
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