Family Name is Etched in TCU’s General and Basketball History

TCU Men’s Head Basketball Coaches Have Included Four Former Players

Most likely, you skipped over the 91-year-old woman’s obituary, unless, that is, you are a Horned Frog and the woman’s last name caught your eye.

Joan Swaim passed away in her home in Granbury, Texas, on January 18.

Yes, that Swaim. As in former TCU men’s basketball player and head basketball coach Johnny Ray Swaim, who had been married to Joan for 42 years when he passed away at the age of 66 in 1995.

Her Role at TCU Extended Beyond Athletics

Just as her husband did, Joan left an indelible mark on TCU and Fort Worth, Texas. She earned two degrees from the university and became head of TCU’s library catalog department, where she helped usher the university into the computer age. In 1992, she published “Walking TCU,” a historical account of the university, for which she collaborated on a second edition in 2023. TCU Magazine bestowed on her the title of “Honorary Editor.”

Walking TCU by Joan Swaim | available on Amazon. Walking TCU by Joan Swaim

Joan was part of a multi-generational TCU legacy. Her grandparents, Frank and Georgia Harris, arrived at TCU in 1921 to be stewards of the first TCU cafeteria. Her father, Willis G. Hewatt, served as a professor for 42 years, with 23 of those years as head of the university’s biology and geology departments. And Johnny, whom most probably associate the Swaim name with, carved out a place for himself in the TCU men’s basketball history books.

Former Players Who Later Led the Program

As TCU continues to seek its first men’s basketball conference championship during the 10-year head coaching tenure of former TCU basketball player Jamie Dixon, it is interesting to note that Dixon is the fourth former TCU basketball player who became the Horned Frogs’ men’s head basketball coach.

The formula of naming former players as head coaches of the men’s basketball team has had a varying degree of success for TCU.

The first former TCU basketball player who became the Frogs’ head men’s basketball coach was Mike Brumbelow. He replaced Dutch Meyer after the 1937 season. Over four seasons, Brumbelow compiled an overall record of 22-64 and a Southwest Conference (SWC) record of 2-46.

The second former TCU basketball player to become head coach of the Frogs was Buster Brannon, who coached the men’s team from 1948-1967. Brannon led the Frogs to four SWC championships in 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1959, and the program's first three NCAA tournament appearances in 1952, 1953, and 1959.

Coach Swaim and His Place in TCU Basketball History

Johnny Swaim played for Brannon and succeeded him as the university’s third basketball player to become head basketball coach.

Johnny graduated from high school in Graham, Texas. He attended TCU on a basketball scholarship, beginning in 1950. The teams on which he played point guard, Brannon won Southwest Conference (SWC) championships in 1951, ‘52, and ‘53. He and teammate Richard Allen were the only players in TCU history to have played on three consecutive conference winners. Johnny also was a pitcher for the baseball team as a TCU student-athlete.

After graduating from TCU in 1953, Johnny entered the United States Marine Corps (USMC) as a second lieutenant. He had gone through the platoon leaders training program in college. He received an honorable discharge from the USMC in 1955, when he returned to Texas to coach basketball and baseball for one year at La Vega High School in Bellmead. His college coaching career began in 1956, when Brannon hired him as TCU’s freshman basketball coach and recruiter. When the TCU freshman program was discontinued, Johnny became a full-time varsity assistant. He was named TCU’s head basketball coach when Brannon retired in 1967.

Johnny’s 1967–68 TCU basketball team was predicted to finish no better than third in the SWC, but with a strong nucleus of Mickey McCarty, Tom Swift, Rick Wittenbraker, Bill Swanson, and the legendary James Cash, Jr., who was TCU’s first Black student-athlete and the first Black basketball player in the SWC, the Horned Frogs won the 1968 SWC title with a 9-5 conference record. It was TCU's first SWC basketball title since 1959.

The Horned Frogs, with a 15-11 overall record, were one of 23 teams that earned a spot in the 1968 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament (now known as March Madness). TCU had a bye in the Midwest Regional quarterfinals. The Frogs beat Kansas State 77-72 in the semifinals, then lost, 103-68, to No.1-ranked Houston and all-American Elvin Hayes in the Elite Eight Midwest championship game. In the Final Four, Houston lost to UCLA, which was coached by John Wooden and featured Lew Alcindor, who in 1971 changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabar. The Bruins won that season’s national championship with a 78-55 victory over North Carolina, which was coached by Dean Smith.

Coach Swaim, who affectionately became known as “Smilin’ Johnny” for his optimistic nature, would win one more SWC title at TCU in 1970-71, when the Frogs were included as one of 25 teams in the NCAA basketball championship tournament. TCU lost to 12th-ranked Notre Dame, 102-94, in the opening round of the Midwest Regional, played at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas. The Horned Frogs featured Simpson Degrate and Eugene “Goo” Kennedy. The Fightin’ Irish were led by All-American Austin Carr, who for the season averaged nearly 40 points a game. Following the season, Carr was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first pick in the 1971 NBA Draft.

The 1970-71 Frogs finished 15-12 overall, 11-3 in the SWC, including winning five of their last six conference games, with victories over Texas A&M, Texas, Baylor, Rice, and Arkansas. The Horned Frogs’ season also included hosting the Texas Classic in Fort Worth in mid-December, during which TCU defeated Alabama but lost to ninth-ranked Drake in the championship game.

After the 1970-71 season, Smilin’ Johnny and the Frogs never finished higher than tied for third in the SWC. For the 1976-77 season, TCU went 3-23 and 0-16 in the SWC, after which Johnny retired from coaching and entered the real estate business in Granbury.

As TCU’s head basketball coach, Swaim compiled a 102-151 overall record and a 56-88 record in SWC games. In 1968 and 1970 he was voted the Southwest Conference Coach of the Year. In 1975, he was named to TCU's 60-year All-time Basketball Team. In 1983, he was inducted into the TCU Letterman's Hall of Fame.

Remembered for Service, Leadership, and Care for the Community

Joan and Johnny Swaim TCU Legacy — Photo provided from Swaim family to KillerFrogs.com for TCU On SI story.

If he were alive today, Johnny most assuredly would say his greatest achievement and honor was having Joan as his partner for more than four decades, during which they not only shared their lives but also their immense love of TCU, to which they contributed in many different and significant ways.

In lieu of flowers, Joan’s family requests that her life be honored by donations to the Willis G. Hewatt Scholarship Fund at TCU.

Her Role at TCU Extended Beyond Athletics

Former Players Who Later Led the Program

Coach Swaim and His Place in TCU Basketball History

Remembered for Service, Leadership, and Care for the Community

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