swillis leaves for fresno

socalogo.gif (8739 bytes)
SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Shannon Swillis The Latest To Leave USC;
Enrolls At Fresno State--(Sept. 1, 1999)

USC basketball player Shannon Swillis (6'-6" Jr. PF/SF) has been granted a release from his scholarship at USC and will return to Fresno to play for coach Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State. Tark told reporters yesterday, "Shannon's a great kid, a Fresno kid, and we're happy to have him," Swillis only played sparingly for USC last season after averaging 5.9 rebounds as a freshman. He is the latest USC player to leave, following Quincy Wilder, Greg Lakey and Kevin Augustine, all of whom have departed within the past year, several within the past few months. recently left the Trojan program. He will join Chris Jeffries,

Swillis attended Bullard High in Fresno, where he averaged 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game in 1996 as a senior. He was named Northwest Yosemite League Co-MVP and received All-Central Section first team honors. He was also named to the Long Beach Press-Telegram's prestigious Best in the West first team and was ranked at No. 74 and No. 76 on Bluechip Illustrated's and Van Coleman's Top 100 national high school prospect lists, respectively. Swillis led his high school team to a 26-4 record and in one game against Clovis West High, he hit two 25-foot shots to send the game into overtime. As high school junior in 1995, Swillis was an All-League pick after averaging 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks per game for the Knights. He signed a letter of intent with USC in the fall of 1995 during the early signing period.

In his first year for the Trojans, 1996-97, Swillis was one of USC's three freshmen who were expected to contribute, but he broke a bone in his right foot before the start of the season, and sat out until he was cleared for practice in mid-January 1997, but did not play and was redshirted. In 1997-98, Swillis averaged 3.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game (first on the team) as a redshirt freshman. He also had a team-high 41 blocks (1.52 per game - second in the Pac-10). Shannon blocked three or more shots in eight games. He earned a Pac-10 All-Freshman Honorable Mention selection and was given the Harold Jones Memorial Award (most improved player) at the team banquet. In the upset of No. 2 Arizona, he finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two steals. Against Tennessee, Shannon finished with a career-high 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. He did all of that in 35 minutes of action, but did so without committing a foul or turnover. At Long Beach State, he scored 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Against UNLV, Shannon yanked down a career-high 15 rebounds, the most by a Trojan since Jaha Wilson (15) in 1996.

Swillis' time though was limited last year, and it was widely rumored that he was not happy with his role on the team. He played in 15 games as a reserve sophomore forward last year, averaging only 1.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 5.5 minutes per game. He scored a season-high nine points at Arizona and had a season-high four rebounds at Wyoming in the first round of the NIT. He played a season-high 16 minutes against San Diego State in the season opener.

The official USC basketball site still has the above information on Shannon, and it also features a quote from coach Bibby as to what Shannon had to look forward to this coming season had he stayed at USC: "Shannon is a former starter for us at power forward who played small forward last year. He's going to return to power forward this year and should see more playing time. He can block shots and is probably as athletic as Jeff Trepagnier. He also runs the floor well. He needs to improve on his low-post scoring, which would bring a lot to the team."

Guess the Trojans will be without that low-post scoring, improved or not. Swillis will sit out a year under NCAA transfer rules, and will still have two years of eligibility remaining.