For Tennessee Tech point guard Zac Swansey, it's been a long road to get back to where he began.
Perhaps best remembered for sinking a last-second 3-pointer to help Georgia beat Kentucky in the 2008 SEC tournament, the senior now brings his Golden Eagles team to Georgia State on Tuesday at 7 in a CollegeInsider.com Tournament first-round game.
It's a return to where he grew up, a gym rat with a sweet jumper first at Flowery Branch High School and then Dunwoody, where he helped win two state titles. This marks the first time Swansey has been back to town to play since he transferred from Georgia following the firing of coach Dennis Felton.
Three years later, he'll have his homecoming.
“It's definitely very special,” said Swansey, whose six assists per game is 19th best in Division I. “Growing up there my whole life, this is the first time I've been back home to play in front of my friends and family. I'm definitely looking forward to that.”
There were supposed to be many more homecomings for Swansey three years ago, when he was a regular in Felton's lineup, starting 17 games during the 2007-08 season. But he sensed it was time for a change following Felton's departure and Tennessee Tech quickly came calling when he decided to transfer.
The move to Cookeville, Tenn., took Swansey a few hours from home, dropping him into a small town in an unfamiliar state. And it also left him on the sideline for a full season due to NCAA transfer rules.
“With the whole thing there at UGA, it was definitely an eye-opening thing,” Swansey said. “A year later, I'm sitting out and not able to play in any games. It would have been really easy to just take it easy in practice, knowing I wouldn't be able to play until next year, but I took it as an opportunity to get better.”
That, he did, improving his ball-handling and working to become the pass-first point guard Tennessee Tech sought. Coach Steve Payne says it's no coincidence that in the two years Swansey has been on the floor, the Golden Eagles have made the first back-to-back postseason appearances in school history.
“When we got Zac, we knew that we were going to have a really special team and we had a terrific player,” Payne said. “He's been a guy who shows tremendous leadership on the court. We have the best point guard and the most unselfish point guard in our league.”
While Swansey had to wait for his time to shine, it almost came too easy for teammate and Atlanta native Kevin Murphy.
When the Tennessee Tech guard went to the sideline for a final-minute strategy session against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in January, Murphy suddenly found out he was having more than just a solid little game.
“We came to the bench and my coach told me he wanted to run a play for me so I could break the school record,” said Murphy, a 6-foot-7 senior who was on his way to a 50-point game. “I really didn't know how many points I had. I was basically just running the plays. My teammates would hit me with an open shot. I really wasn't hitting shots that were amazing.”
Still, with a 21.1-point average, 11th best in the country, the record is now property of the kid from Creekside who was just a two-star recruit out of high school. At the time, many potential suitors were scared off by his grades and test scores, which were looking shaky as graduation time approached.
Murphy says he had to make straight A's his final semester in order to qualify, which he did. Four years later, the one-time skinny, 175-pound high schooler who didn't earn many looks from the big schools is getting NBA attention.
“I have no choice but to hear about the scouts, but I do my best not to think about it until after the season,” Murphy said. “It's every kid's dream who plays college basketball to play in the NBA. It's kind of hard to keep it off your mind, but I have a great coaching staff who helps me.”
Not only has his scoring increased each year but he's become a more balanced player.
In addition to his 21 points leading the Ohio Valley Conference, Murphy is averaging 5.3 rebounds (11th in the OVC) and is second on the team in assists. It's those components of his game that don't directly involve scoring that have made him a potential NBA performer.
“His understanding of the game's improved, understanding it's important to be efficient as a player,” Payne said. “He's become a better, more efficient offensive player.”
In so doing, he's helped lead the team to the verge of back to back 20-win seasons. The Eagles enterthe matchup against the Panthers (21-11) with 19. Murphy and fellow Atlantan Zac Swansey are two major cogs in a senior class that has made a significant impact on the Tennessee Tech program.
“They have been a special group in that they've kind of changed our culture a little bit,” Payne said. “We expect to win every game. We expect to play in the NCAA tournament. That's because these guys have that drive. I don't think I've ever been around a bunch of guys I can be more proud of than these guys."
