ABOUT
NOTHING IN LIFE HAPPENS ON ACCOUNT OF COINCIDENCE, AND ISAIAH SWANN'S LIFE IS A TESTIMONY TO GOD'S DELIBERATE, UNIQUE PLANS.
AT THE YOUNG AGE OF EIGHT, ISAIAH BEGAN EXPLORING HIS LOVE FOR BASKETBALL BY PLAYING IN THE COMPETITVE CHURCH LEAGUE OF THE D.C. METRO AREA. PLAYING AGAINST YOUNG TALENTS SUCH AS MIKE BEASLEY AND DARIAN TOWNES FURTHER SPARKED HIS PASSION FOR THE GAME.
AS TIME PROGRESSED, ISAIAH'S ON-COURT EXPERIENCE EXPANDED, TOO, AND HIS TERRITORY ENLARGED AS HE BEGAN PLAYING AAU BASKETBALL. AT 14 YEARS OLD, ISAIAH PLAYED WITH MARYLAND MADNESS, AND HIS TWO YEARS WITH THE TEAM WERE SOME OF THE MOST FUN YET EYE-OPENING YEARS OF HIS LIFE.
"THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME COMPETING AT A NATIONAL LEVEL, AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND COMPETITION WERE ADDICTING," ISAIAH SAID.
IN 2001, DURING ISAIAH'S FRESHMAN YEAR AT MAGRUDER HIGH SCHOOL IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND, HE LED HIS TEAM TO AN UNDEFEATED CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON, MAGRUDER'S FIRST UNDEFEATED SEASON AND THE SCHOOL'S FIRST 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP.
DURING THE SUMMERS OF 2001 TO 2003, ISAIAH PLAYED FOR THE NATIONALLY-RENOWNED D.C. BLUE DEVILS, AND HE WAS FORTUNATE TO BE TAUGHT THE GAME THE RIGHT WAY AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, WHICH MADE IT EASIER FOR ISAIAH TO ACCLIMATE AMONG HIS HIGHLY-TOUTED TEAMMATES SUCH AS ROY HIBBERT, JAMES GIST, TRAVIS GARRISON, AND CHRIS MCCRAY, TO NAME A FEW.
UPON ISAIAH'S JUNIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL, HE TRANSFERRED TO OAK HILL ACADEMY, THE NATIONALLY-KNOWN POWERHOUSE. ISAIAH MADE HIS TELEVISED DEBUT IN THE OAK HILL VERSUS ST. VINCENT ST. MARY GAME (SVSM). SVSM, LED BY LEBRON JAMES, GARNERED NATIONAL ATTENTION, AS THIS WAS THE FIRST NATIONALLY TELEVISED HIGH SCHOOL GAME ON ESPN.
FROM 2001 TO 2004, ISAIAH ATTENDED NIKE CAMP WITH THE LIKES OF CHRIS PAUL, P.J. TUCKER, LUOL DENG, RUDY GAY, DANIEL GIBSON, AND SHANNON BROWN. NOTABLY, IN 2004, ISAIAH PARTICIPATED IN THE JORDAN CAPITAL CLASSIC WITH JASON RICH, DWIGHT HOWARD, RAJON RONDO, AND MANY OTHER ELITE TALENTS.
ISAIAH'S HIGH SCHOOL CAREER ENDED ON TOP, AS HE TRANSFERRED TO HARGRAVE MILITARY ACADEMY, WHERE HE LED HIS TEAM TO THE PREP SCHOOL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (WITH A RECORD OF 25-1). SWANN RECEIVED OFFERS FROM OVER 200 COLLEGES, EVENTUALLY NARROWING HIS CHOICES TO FIVE - ARIZONA, UCONN, CINCINNATI, FSU, AND MARYLAND. ULTIMATELY, FSU BECAME HIS #1 CHOICE, AND HE COMMITTED IN THE WINTER OF 2004.
"AT THE TIME, I WAS RANKED AS ONE OF THE 50 BEST PLAYERS IN THE NATION. I WAS #34 AND MY SOON-TO-BE COLLEGE ROOMMATE, JASON RICH, WAS #33. I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS WOULD BE THE START OF A LIFE-LONG FRIENDSHIP," ISAIAH SHARED.
DURING HIS TIME AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, ISAIAH LEARNED COUNTLESS LIFE LESSONS, ON AND OFF THE COURT, AND HE SOLIDIFIED HIS POSITION AS ONE OF FSU'S TOP 35 SCORERS IN THE SCHOOL'S HISTORY. ISAIAH NOT ONLY REACHED THE 1,000 POINT CLUB BUT HE TIED THE UNIVERSITY'S ALL-TIME RECORD FOR MOST 3'S IN A GAME (NINE). AFTER A DEVASTATING ACL INJURY DURING HIS SENIOR YEAR, ISAIAH WORKED HARD TO GET BACK ON THE COURT, ULTIMATELY SIGNING HIS FIRST PROFESSIONAL CONTRACT WITH AGET IMOLA IN ITALY.
ISAIAH'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER TOOK OFF DRAMATICALLY, AS HE AND TEAMMATES JEREMY PARGO, BRIAN RANDLE, MARCUS COUSIN, AND GAL MEKEL WON THE 2009-2010 ISRAELI CHAMPIONSHIP AGAINST MACCABI TEL AVIV, PUTTING AN END TO MACCABI'S CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING STREAK. POST-ISRAEL, ISAIAH'S CAREER EXPANDED TO THE LIKES TO GERMANY, TURKEY, FRANCE, ITALY, ARGENTINA, AND VENEZUELA. IN 2011, ISAIAH LED ULM TO THE FINALS, SCORING 36 POINTS (INCLUDING EIGHT 3'S) IN GAME THREE. SWANN WAS ALSO NAMED TO THE FIRST-TEAM OF THE LEAGUE ALONGSIDE P.J. TUCKER AND BRIAN ROBERTS. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, IN 2012, ISAIAH LED THE TURKISH LEAD IN SCORING, AS HE PLAYED FOR THE HIGHLY-TALENTED CLUB, GAZIANTEP.
HIS ACCOLADES AND ACHIEVEMENTS ARE PLENTY, FROM EARNING MVP OF OF THE ALL-STAR GAME IN GERMANY (2013-2014) TO WINNING THE 3-POINT ALL-STAR CONTEST IN ISRAEL (2015) TO BREAKING A FIBA RECORD WITH 15 3'S IN A GAME (2017) TO LEADING HIS TEAM TO THE SEMI-FINALS IN ITALY (2018), TO BREAKING ANOTHER FIBA RECORD WITH A 65 EVALUATION AGAINST MANTOVA(2019), ISAIAH'S CAREER HAS BEEN NOTHING SHORT OF WONDROUS, AND HE GIVES ALL THE PRAISE TO HIS LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
"MY MOM INTRODUCED ME TO GOD AT AN EARLY AGE. I KNOW WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF AND WHAT HE HAS DONE IN MY LIFE THUS FAR," ISAIAH SHARES, "AND I KNOW HE WILL USE MY ACHIEVEMENTS AND DOWNFALLS TO HELP PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND SPIRITUALITY IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS."
CURRENTLY, ISAIAH IS PLAYING FOR JUVECASTERA IN ITALY, WHERE HE SIGNED A TWO-YEAR CONTRACT, AND HIS CAREER IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN ANY TIME SOON. ISAIAH IS MARRIED TO HIS COLLEGE SWEETHEART, LACI, AND HE HAS THREE CHILDREN, JAYLEN, SLOAN, AND JUSTICE. ISAIAH EARNED HIS BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN SOCIAL SCIENCE FROM FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, AND HE HOPES TO ONE DAY EARN A SECOND DEGREE IN CRIMINOLOGY.