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VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2 47 craziest I've seen." For Purdue coach Matt Painter, his prized 2015 recruit has required little maintenance. Painter's even half-joked privately, "I don't even have to coach him." "All the things you try to get kids to do by the time they leave your program," Painter said, "he does them walking in the door." Effort can sometimes be a hard sell for freshmen. It won't be with Swanigan, said Iowa City High School coach Don Showalter, coach of the 2014 USA Basketball team that won gold at 17-and-Unders. "It was the high motor that he plays with that stood out to me," Showalter said. "It was how aggressive he was and how he never took a play off. He played really, really hard every single play. With young high school players, that doesn't always happen. "He's not necessarily an above-the-rim sort of player, but he's a real hard-working, blue-collar style of player who gets the job done. The people at Purdue are really going to enjoy him, because he's a great kid and you're not going to find a harder worker than him." Swanigan (who could not be interviewed for this story due to Purdue's media policies for freshmen) is described as being rich in intangibles. The tangibles, though, are obviously significant. "He's a pro," said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, who joined just about every other major-program coach in college basketball in offering Swanigan a scholarship. "He can dribble, pass and shoot and he's 265 with a nasty streak. But he has skills. He's not just a smash-mouth guy. He can play that way, but he's skilled and he's talent- ed. He has a feel for how to play. Those guys are hard to cover." Those things earned Swanigan top-20 national rank- ings by every major recruiting outlet. In the span of a little more than a year, Swanigan won a gold medal, an Indiana Class 4A state title, then another gold medal, with McDonald's All-America and Indiana Mr. Basketball honors mixed in. Those goals were accomplished by Swanigan, the low- post force. "Big Nasty, that's what we called him," said Harry Giles, the No. 1 player in the 2016 high school class and another former USA Basketball teammate. "Last year, he busted my lip. I still have a mark from when he busted my lip. He elbowed me. He's just a big dude, physical and he just gets nasty down there. He's got game to be so big. I think he'll be really good in college because he's so strong. I see how he tossed around college guys at U19, so I'm excited to see him play this year." Giles may see a different Swanigan this year. His body's changed, but his usage will also. Purdue will play him as a traditional power forward, alongside 7-footers A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas. It's hoped that that role will allow Swanigan to contin- ue to use his power and distinct mean streak to score around the basket and potentially dominate as a rebound- er, while also allowing him to utilize the offensive skill that has been for so long overshadowed by his physicality. Swanigan is an exceptional passer for a big man and has shown some ability to shoot and drive while facing the basket offensively. It's hoped that such a role for Swanigan can A) help Purdue win a lot of games during his time in West Lafay- ette and B) help prepare the big man for the professional level, where he'll have to play forward. "We'll put him in positions where he can use his abil- ity to pass, use his mismatch," Painter said. "If you're going to put a traditional big man on him he'll be pretty good on the perimeter against that guy. "If you put someone smaller than him on him like a lot of face-up forwards, he's going to be able to go to the post and play through there. You'll see a lot of doubles. He's his own guy, but he's only been this guy for a while. He's been on a long journey in terms of improving his body to be where he is today." j