‘He makes us go.’ ACC recruit Austin Swartz hopes to lead Cannon to a state title
Austin Swartz smiles when asked about life with the Cannon School boys’ basketball team.
“Yes, things are definitely going well,” Swartz, the Cougars’ high-scoring 6-5 senior guard, said Saturday.
Swartz scored 25 points as the Cougars outscored Chambers 91-85 in a Phenom Hoops MLK Classic game played at a frenetic pace.
Cannon School (18-6) has won five in a row. The Cougars are 12-3 since mid-December. They beat one of their key CISAA rivals, Charlotte Country Day, by 35 points last week.
“We’re playing well, and we’re having fun,” said Swartz, a top-50 national recruit who plans to play in college next year for the Miami Hurricanes. “We consider ourselves to be one of the best teams in the state. It’s something we’ve worked toward.”
That work began last February, when Cannon School lost a game it didn’t expect to lose – against Ravenscroft School in the 4A private school playoff semifinals. The Cougars didn’t shoot well and fell 52-50.
“I don’t know if we overlooked them or not, but we didn’t expect to lose that game,” Swartz said. “I think that loss has made us more focused this season. We’re locked in.”
‘He makes us go’
It’s possible that nobody is more locked in than Swartz.
Cannon School is a young team. Sharpshooter Lincoln Vinson is a freshman. Markus Kerr, a strong defender, is a sophomore. Isaiah Henry, Jaylen Claggett and Evan Ingram, all good scorers and rebounders, are juniors.
Swartz is the only senior regular.
“He makes us go,” Cannon School coach Che Roth said. “He’s the force on this team.”
Like many of basketball’s brightest lights, Swartz is at his best when the spotlight shines brightest.
He had 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists against Archbishop Ryan (PA) in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., last month. In the John Wall Classic after Christmas, Swartz totaled 23 points and five assists against 2A public school power Reidsville and 21 points, nine rebounds and nine assists against Richmond Senior, last year’s 4A playoff runner-up.
“I worked hard in the offseason,” Swartz said. “I worked a lot on attacking the basket, on what happens when you approach the basket. A lot of times, there will be 6-10 and 7-foot players waiting for me at the rim.”
Preview of next year
And Swartz knows that’s how it will be next season, when he’s facing a steady diet of ACC competition with Miami.
“I’ve watched them a lot this season,” he said of the Hurricanes. “I think my style of play will fit in well.”
Swartz said he picked Miami in large part because of head coach Jim Larranaga.
“I like Coach L and his style,” Swartz said. “I like his offense. It’s an NBA-style guard-oriented offense. And he got a really, really talented recruiting class.”
Roth said Swartz has grown a lot as a player this season.
“It’s been fun, watching his maturation as a leader,” he said. “He knows how to move the ball, and he knows how to make the offense operate. He has the ability to make others around him better.”
A grueling schedule
Swartz said he playing basketball this season at Cannon School is fun.
“It’s a really good group this year,” he said. “We’ve all bought into the same goal. The chemistry is really strong.”
Both Swartz and Roth said the Cougars prepared for all of this with a grueling schedule.
A look at their three losses since mid-December:
▪ 73-71 to Reidsville, a legitimate 2A public school championship contender.
▪ McEachern (GA), the only team to beat Camden (NJ) this season. On Saturday, Camden knocked off North Mecklenburg.
▪ Montverde Academy (FL), generally regarded as the best prep team in the country. In that game, Swartz was guarded by the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, Duke commit Cooper Flagg.
“That schedule is making us a better team,” Swartz said.
Roth added, “That’s why we played a schedule like that.”
Swartz said he pays “some” attention to what’s happening with Miami but is laser-focused on Cannon School.
“This is our time,” he said. “We’ve got tons of talent on this team. I think we can win it all.”
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
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