Bennie Swain, the first All-American basketball player at Texas Southern University, died after a long illness Thursday at the age of 78. Swain led the nation in scoring during the 1957-58 season, when he was named to an All-American team that featured future Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain.
He left TSU as the school's all-time leading scorer, a mark that stood until Harry "Machine Gun" Kelly surpassed Swain in 1981.
The 6-8 Swain was chosen by the Boston Celtics with the seventh overall pick of the 1958 draft. He played 58 games for the NBA champions in 1958-59, his only professional season, averaging 4.6 points and 4.5 rebounds as the backup center to Hall of Famer Bill Russell.
Photo: Bennie Swain #16 is shown on 1958/59 autographed photo of 12 team members of the World Champions Boston Celtics, including Gene Conley, Bob Cousy, head coach Red Auerbach, Bill Sharman, Bill Russell, K. C. Jones, Lou Tsioropoulos, Tommy Heinsohn, Ben Swain, Jim Loscutoff, Sam Jones and Frank Ramsey.
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