Dailyn Swain just got to Texas, but he carries a unique leadership role in Sean Miller's program

In March, Dailyn Swain scored 11 points, pulled down four rebounds, had three assists, and logged two steals in Xavier’s 86-80 First Four win over Texas playing for Xavier head coach Sean Miller. Here in September, Dailyn Swain is preparing for his first season at Texas under new Longhorns head coach Sean Miller.

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It’s a story that’s become common in college basketball in the age of the portal, but even Swain’s journey to Texas is unique. Rarely does a player join the program he helped to eliminate from the NCAA Tournament. So why is Swain in Austin preparing for his junior year instead of in Cincinnati?

“Coach Miller is here,” Swain said this week.

Swain, a 6-foot-8 wing from Columbus, Ohio, averaged 11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists for the Musketeers last year. He was the third leading scorer for XU behind Ryan Conwell, who Texas pursued in the portal but did not land, and Zach Freemantle, who is in the Los Angeles Clipper organization.

Swain is likely to be one of the offensive catalysts for the Longhorns in 2025-26. But in addition, he’ll have to step into a leadership role rarely seen in the sport.

Swain and fellow XU transfer Lassina Traore are both on the Longhorns roster, but since Traore missed all of 2024-25 due to injury Swain is the only Texas player who has played for Miller. He’s fielded questions from his teammates since Miller’s arrival not only about his program expectations, but also his coaching style.

“The first thing I always say is that he loves winning,” Swain said. “That’s the bottom line. No matter what else is going on, as long as we’re winning games everything’s going to go right. He’s going to make sure your head’s on straight, you’re dedicated, and you keep working. You don’t get complacent. They obviously all value those.”

And his teammates, including some who are approaching their second campaign as a Longhorn, are looking to Swain for information like he’s the returner and they’re the newbies.

“There’s been times in practices or off the court where I’ll just go up to Swain and ask about him, or ask him how he acts or reacts in certain moments, in timeouts, in key situations in the game, highs, lows just to really pick his brain to get a better feel about Coach Miller without talking to Coach Miller,” Jordan Pope said. “He’s done a great job not only telling me and explaining to me, but everyone else that’s new to Coach Miller. It’s helped our progression a lot in terms of everyone getting comfortable.”

Added Purdue transfer Camden Heide, “I think it’s super important to have guys like that returning in a similar position that I am that kind of know what’s going on to just talk to them as much as I can. Can’t ask too many questions about things. Just be willing to learn.”

For Swain, it’s not just about Miller. He mentioned that along with LeBron James, one of his favorite players growing up was Kevin Durant.

“Him going to Texas, and growing up being a Texas fan with all the NBA players that they’ve had, then having the opportunity to play a school like that in the tournament, then we beat them, then they hire our coach, and now I’m here,” Swain said laughing. “It’s kind of a full circle moment a little bit. It’s definitely a blessing to be here.”

This is a huge year for Swain, especially since his role on the court may be as big as the one he has off of it. In July, Inside Texas’ Keenan Womack wrote…

Though there is not a bona fide top-10 pick on the roster this season, NBA scouts have paid plenty of interest to Xavier transfer Dailyn Swain as a possible first-round pick in the 2026 Draft next summer, a combo forward with elite defensive tools and a burgeoning offensive game whose efficiency inside the arc made him an important piece of the Musketeers’ multi-pronged attack last season. He is also young for a junior, and would be freshly 21 at the start of next year’s Summer League.

Swain mentioned he believes he can guard the one through the four on defense. He also thinks he can facilitate and get to the basket in order to make plays for himself and teammates. That may be a theme of this year’s Texas team considering some of the outstanding questions about perimeter shooting.

If Swain is able to take another step, he’ll likely be quick to credit Miller.

“Just the relationship that we’ve built since my freshman year, and really since the recruiting process,” Swain said as to why he’s at Texas. “He’s showed that he believed in me a lot. He’s showed that he believes in my development and believes in my future. I couldn’t really give that up.”

Though there are returners on the 2025-26 roster like Pope, Cole Bott, Chendall Weaver, Nic Codie, Tramon Mark, and Anthon McDermott, none of them have the experience that Swain does with Miller.

As Miller’s first season at Texas approaches, Swain has become “the returner” or “the leader,” even if it’s at a place he’s been for just a few months.

“Yeah, they’ve all asked me, especially when they made their decisions to come back,” Swain said. “They’re asking me how he was. From a player’s perspective, it’s obviously a lot different than what they’ll tell you.”

For those players, Swain has a succinct explanation behind his trust for Miller.

“I definitely explored my options, but ultimately this was the best one for me,” Swain said.