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DAYTON, Ohio— When John C. Swann Jr. played for Miami Basketball six decades ago, his teammates used to call him 'Words.'

"John was a very talkative, very outgoing person," then-assistant coach Darrell Hedric recalled. "Very well liked."
 

So it was only fitting that as the nearly-80-year-old Swann's friends and family joined him here Wednesday at Spring Hills Singing Woods to celebrate his life achievements, there were plenty of words to go around.
 
Words like 'Pioneer.'
 
'Legend.'
 
'Mentor.'
 
'Inspiration.'
 
And the list goes on.
 
Congratulations and proclamations poured in from all over Ohio for a life well lived. Governor Mike DeWine, Senator J.D. Vance and Dayton mayor Jeffrey J. Mims, Jr. sent greetings from afar. The Dayton unit of the NAACP officially declared Aug. 30 to be 'John C. Swann Jr. Day', with local media on hand to capture and document every moment.
 
A letter from Miami University President Gregory Crawford recognized the 1965 (MEd '67) Miami graduate as well. "When I reflect on your story, I am reminded of the importance of Miami's code of Love and Honor," Crawford wrote.
 
"Your life embodies the fundamental values that Miamians hold dear: Courage, integrity, respect and service to others. Our students can aspire to these characteristics, and our university can strive toward inclusive excellence, thanks to the groundwork laid by you and many others who fought for a more just and equitable society."

Swann's story began in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where his parents worked at the world-renowned Greenbrier resort. He made an impact both on and off the basketball court, even before stepping foot on Miami's campus. Similar to the famous 'Little Rock Nine', Swann helped integrate White Sulphur High School in the 1950s, although it didn't receive the same level of press coverage and attention at the time that the Arkansas events did.
 
"MLK came to my grandfather's church, the Black United Methodist church, to talk to them about integrating the schools," son Brian Swann said in a video presentation.
 
"When Dr. King asked, 'Well, what families are willing to do this?', my grandfather and [my cousins' grandfather] volunteered their sons without hesitation."

John Swann Jr. went on to lead his high school hoops team to the state championship game, earning a reputation throughout West Virginia for his play. In 2021, the Charleston Gazette-Mail would rank him among the top players in state history, a list including familiar names such as NBA 'logo' Jerry West, pro standouts Patrick Patterson and Jason Williams, and even Williams' prep teammate Randy Moss, who eventually went on to a Hall of Fame football career.
 

Swann's skills also captured attention outside his home state, including that of his eventual college head coach, Miami's Dick Shrider.
 
"John was a real good player. A smart player," said Hedric, whom Shrider hired in 1960 as Miami's first full-time basketball assistant coach.
 
"He was about 5-foot-10: Good, quick guard. We were really loaded with good players at that time. We had a LOT of good players.
 
"It was a good time for Miami Basketball."
 
A 1965 Sports Illustrated article by Hall of Famer Frank Deford gives insight into the type of athlete Swann was. "He is, stretching him to the full, 5 feet 10, but when he first arrived at Oxford he was 5 feet 5, 125 pounds, and people thought Shrider had lost his mind," wrote Deford.
 
"Swann has great spring and huge hands, and despite his size he can both palm and dunk a ball, pregame feats that rock old Withrow Court for all it can take."
 
Swann averaged 8.8 points and 2.8 rebounds as a senior starter, playing alongside All-MAC performers Charlie Coles, Charley Dinkins and Jeff Gehring. The Red and White dominated opponents on the hardwood regularly in that era, and Swann's 'razzle-dazzle' was a big part of that.
 
In his senior season (1964-65), Miami was co-champion of the Mid-American Conference, finishing with an 11-1 league record and 20-5 overall mark after winning 13 of its first 14 contests. One of those 20 wins came at Toledo by a lopsided margin of 95-66, which still ranks among the top 20 biggest road wins in program history.

 
The victory over the Rockets on Jan. 2, 1965 made history in a different sense as well. Swann, Coles, Dinkins, Jim Patterson and Walt Williams appeared on the floor at the same time in what is thought to be the first instance of five Black teammates playing together in a game for Miami University.
 
Other road games that year included trips to schools in the South such as Vanderbilt and Miami (Fla.). Only a matter of months after the passage of the Civil Rights Act that prohibited discrimination in public places, Swann and his teammates still never quite knew what they might encounter from city to city and state to state.
 
 "We went to the Tennessee [theater], and it was a little shaky there. All of us mixed, four blacks, 11 whites, all of us in red blazers standing outside of a movie theater…" he told Donna Boen in a 2014 Miamian cover story.
 
"Yeah, we had some experiences. We played in Miami Beach in '64. We could stay in the hotel, but we couldn't go on the beach, which made no sense."
 
Swann developed deep and long-lasting friendships with several teammates, most notably Coles, with Swann even serving as the best man in Coles' wedding.
 
"The first medical incident I can remember my dad having was when he had to have surgery on his lung," Swann's son Eric recounted decades later. "One of the first people to be there when he woke up from that surgery was Coach Charlie Coles, who was his best friend and teammate.
 
"That is his world, has been his world. Miami has always been such an important part of his life…it's a part of the foundation of who he is.
 
"Athletically, educationally, and with what he's been able to go on and do…[Miami] is what he represents and continues to represent…all that Miami has given him in terms of opportunities, with basketball as well as education."
 
After graduating with Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Miami's College of Education, Health and Society, Swann embarked on a distinguished career in the workforce, including helping develop the audio-visual program at Cleveland's Shaw High School, working with Ernest Green (one of the 'Little Rock Nine') at RTP, Inc. in New York, and eventually retiring as the Director of Assessment at Dayton Public Schools.
 
"As a Black educator, he mentored countless Black men that have become successful in college, on the basketball court and in the workplace," said Dr. Derrick L. Forward, Dayton NAACP president.
 
Rev. Dr. Norman Bradfield opened Wednesday's Life Achievement Service with a humorous re-telling of one of Swann's favorite pieces of advice during ACT/SAT prep classes. "He would tell us, 'When all else fails, guess C!'", chuckled Bradfield.
 
"And Doc, I want you to know, standing here with a college degree: 'C' has gotten me a long way!"
 
That brought a hearty laugh from everyone in attendance, including Swann himself, clad in a red Miami quarter-zip jacket with his loving wife of 55-plus years, Diane, by his side.
 
Wednesday's program was full of people sharing memories such as that one, which pleased Compassus Hospice chaplain Rev. Dr. Keith Gebhart, who helped coordinate the event.

 
"When I learned about John's historic past —integration, Miami, Martin Luther King, Jr.— I said, 'This is a story that needs to be told," Gebhart explained.
 
But of all the words shared in the service honoring 'Words', perhaps the most meaningful ones came from Eric Swann in the closing segment of the ceremony. For a beloved husband, father, and grandfather, there can be no greater honor for a man like John C. Swann Jr. than to hear a tribute such as this one from the lips of his son.
 
"He is about doing right by people. He is about touching lives and helping others. He is about…being a good guy," Eric Swann told the crowd. "There's a lot that goes into that, but helping others is a big part of that. Being a part of the community is a big part of that. The legacy that you leave is a big part of that. [Being] grounded in faith is a part of that.
 
"That's what John Swann is about. That's what today is about. That's what his life has been about. That is what we are super proud of.
 
"We couldn't have picked a better dad for us, and we are grateful that we can call him Dad."
 
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