The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame announced last week the names of 11 inductees including ETSU great Harley “Skeeter” Swift to be enshrined at its annual banquet on Feb. 19 at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville.”This year’s banquet will feature an outstanding class of athletes,” said Wayne McCreight, president of the statewide organization. “We’ll have a former NFL great, a NBA standout, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the first African-American professional golfer.”

Growing up in Alexandria, Va., Swift began his basketball career at George Washington High School. He was All-State his junior and senior years and was named a High School All-American his senior year. Highly recruited out of high school, Swift accepted a scholarship at East Tennessee State University where he played from 1966-69.

During his career, he was a three-time All Ohio Valley Conference selection and was named the Player of the Year in ’68. His junior year he led ETSU into the NCAA field of 32, where they upset fifth ranked Florida State. He ranks ninth on the Bucs’ career points list with 1,367, and ranks third in points per game for a career with 17.9 average.

Swift went on to become a standout in professional basketball playing five seasons in the American Basketball Association for the New Orleans Bucks, where he was selected to the 1969-70 All Rookie Team. During his professional career he scored over 3,000 points and today ranks as one of the top 10 free-throw shooters in the ABA, which has since been absorbed by the NBA.

After his playing days, he coached the Elizabethton High School Cyclones and the prestigious high school power Oak Hill Academy, where he won a national private school championship.

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