Extended Profile

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If you don’t know Kyle Swanston by his 11-inch-long fro’, his 6-foot-7-inch frame or the number 1 on his varsity basketball jersey, you definitely know his vehicle of choice. His bright yellow truck upholstered with Louis Vuitton leather has become a music-blasting staple on campus now that Swanston is a sophomore here at James Madison University.

“How do you soup a truck like that?” wondered Stephen Cox, a sophomore who lives in Swanston’s residence hall, Chandler. “It’s a little overboard - I mean, amazing!”

Swanston claims he is just like any other JMU student. But he has an education being paid for by a full athletic scholarship, basketball games to win and an eye-catching truck to drive. He is the closest thing at JMU to celebrity, so the rumors fly.

Fegan Hewitt, another sophomore Chandler resident, heard that his truck was stolen and brought back decorated the way it appears now. “It’s definitely attention-grabbing,” she said.

What you don’t know about Swanston is that out of the truck and off the basketball court, he gets bored (he claims Chandler is too quiet for him). He misses his family (his biggest-fan mom texted him during the interview). He loves to socialize (after ignoring texts from teammates for a while, he ended up leaving the interview with plans to attend a Tuesday night soiree).

What you also don’t know is that the silly rumor Hewitt heard is half-true.

While visiting JMU in 2005 for two and a half days before committing to the team, he lived the life of a recruit “just like in the movies.” This included getting set up in a hotel room, having people around campus greeting him by name and going to parties where “it was like a big ‘Girls Gone Wild’ video,” Swanston said.

Meanwhile, back home in Brookesville, Florida, his truck – at this point outfitted with Burberry upholstery, 23-inch spinners and a candy red paint job – was being stolen.

With only his “little old grandma” in the house, the criminals broke in, took nothing but his truck’s keys, and drove it all the way to Georgia. There they picked up a shipment of cocaine and headed for Gainesville, Florida. The police caught them there, two days after Swanston returned from JMU, but his truck was all cut up and all the electronics in it had been blown.

Insurance covered his losses, so Swanston fixed his truck and then some, until it had the look that is associated with it now. Everything is top of the line in his truck, including its extra toys, a Play Station 2 and a horn that sounds like and is as loud as a train’s whistle. “It’s my baby,” Swanston said.

The fact that his truck was stolen while he was visiting JMU did not deter Swanston from committing to the school and the basketball team.

The road to college basketball began with his father, who owns an oxygen medical supply company. From the sixth through the ninth grade, Mr. Swanston took his son to the park every day, rain or shine, to shoot hoops. Despite this training and dedication, Swanston’s first coach at Central High School said he would never play college ball. But he was noticed positively in elite travel basketball teams he played for during the summer months. Senior year he transferred to Hernando High School to get more play time, and instead of playing for Jacksonville State or Winthrop University the year after that, Swanston went to prep school in Worchester, Massachusetts.

There, Swanston began getting “looks” from JMU, and soon men’s basketball Coach Dean Keener was visiting his house and getting Swanston to seriously consider playing for our team.

Swanston knew it would be rough to play at a school with a losing reputation, but Swanston wanted the chance to change it. The spring break visit sealed the deal.

Swanston gets grief daily about the basketball team’s record from other students, from girls who are attempting – and failing – at flirting, and even from University Business Operations employees and the D-hall ladies who swipe your JACard.

Swanston accepts it, even though it gets frustrating. “There are no moral victories in basketball,” he said. “And everyone loves a winner.”

It’s the double-standard of an athlete. It’s “good if you’re winning,” Swanston said, “but if you’re not winning it’s pretty rough.”

The rough expectations follow student athletes to the classroom, where Swanston is a business finance major. Not only is it hard to concentrate on studies when he is tired from practice and traveling to games, Swanston said it is hard to overcome the stereotype many professors have: that athletes are bad students.

“Athletics is scrutinized because they’re so visible,” said Kevin White, Associate Athletic Director for Sports Programs. Athletes are basically expected to be ambassadors to the university.

David Centofante, a junior justice studies major who appears as Madison Man with the Student Duke Club at many JMU sports games, said that he sees Swanston as one of the positive ambassadors. “He really gets into JMU athletics,” Centofante said. “He loves JMU.”

JMU usually loves back.

Meghan McCormick is one of many girls who think Swanston is “cute.” The junior communications major and huge basketball fan noticed that off the court, Swanston seems much less imitating than while he’s playing his game. She saw Swanston at a women’s basketball game once and was impressed that he was just hanging out with the Student Duke Club, cheering on the team.

On the other hand, JMU is of course disappointed with their men’s basketball team that won only seven games out of 30 this season, and Swanston said his truck is not treated very nicely.

“People hate it,” he said. “They always scratch my car here.”

That’s one of the reasons why Swanston did not bring the truck back to school after winter break. Instead, coming back from a spring break spent at home, he drove north for 13 hours in one of the eight family cars: a 350Z Nissan convertible.

The infamous truck won’t return to campus until the spring weather remains warm enough every day, Swanston said, as he left to get into the Nissan; he was heading for a party that a soccer team friend was having on a Tuesday night.

But, just like everywhere else, athletes stick out at parties too. Even at a social gathering, athletes must watch what they’re doing to set a good example. They are always in the public eye, Swanston said. But, “I kind of ask for it with my car.”