Star guard Syla Swords observed an important trait Michigan women’s basketball head coach Kim Barnes Arico that ultimately swayed her to join the Wolverines
Syla Swords credited Kim Barnes Arico with convincing her to join the Wolverines(Image: Getty Images)
Syla Swords revealed the key trait Michigan women’s basketball head coach Kim Barnes Arico showed that convinced her to join the Wolverines.
On Monday, Swords and No. 2 seed Michigan will face off against No. 1 Texas, which enjoyed an easier journey to the Final Four than most. The Wolverines star guard has wasted little time making her presence felt in March Madness, averaging 35 minutes, 18.3 points, four rebounds and two assists over three games.
Long before Swords officially decided to take her talents to Ann Arbor, Barnes Arico kept a close eye on the Sudbury, Ontario native. The pair swiftly developed a close relationship away from the court — a luxury that Swords acknowledged isn’t always the case between prospects and coaches.
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“Yeah, I think that’s something my family has always instilled in me from the very beginning of just my recruiting process is recognizing who likes me as who I am, not just as a player, but as a person,” Swords told reporters on Sunday. “I think that has shown through.
“I was recruited by Michigan before even moving to the U.S., while I was still playing in Canada, playing high school in Canada. So she doesn’t just say she’s loyal.
“She actually shows you that through her actions, and she recruits loyalty through within her players. That creates a very good atmosphere to play in.”
After moving abroad to star at high school power Long Island Lutheran in New York, Swords signed her National Letter of Intent to play for Michigan on Nov. 8, 2023 — becoming the highest-ranked recruit in program history at the time of her NLI signing.
Syla Swords is averaging 18.3 points across three games in the NCAA Tournament(Image: Getty Images)
Only a handful of months later, the New York Gatorade Player of the Year was given a roster spot on Team Canada for the 2024 Paris Games. At just 18 years old, she was crowned the youngest basketball player to ever represent the country at the Summer Olympics.
Thanks to Sword’s international senior experience and upbringing — her father Shawn is a former professional basketball player, while her mother Shelley played in college for Laurentian — Barnes Arico believes that the 20-year-old is mature beyond her years.
“I don’t think there probably are very many players in the world that had the experience that Syla Swords had coming into college,” Barnes Arico noted. “I mean, she was an Olympian before she stepped on campus. That’s very, very unusual.
“I just think those experiences that she had growing up — and I know you guys have been listening to her all week. She sounds like a grown woman. She sounds like not a young college basketball player. She’s very mature. She’s very experienced.
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“I think growing up in a household of college basketball players and coaches really helped her get ready for her international experience, but she was on the biggest stage in the world, and she performed as a young kid. I think that’s different.
“It’s different to coach just her experiences and her maturity and her understanding, her IQ,” she continued. “She wants to be pushed. She wants to be challenged. She sees the game at a very high level. She wants to continue to grow.
“So those are all things from a coaching perspective from the minute she stepped on campus that were really important to her. I want to go to a place where I can continue my development.
“I want to go to a place where I have that comfort level of being myself, and I think all of her experiences have allowed her to become a leader of our team at a really young age. That’s something that’s really unusual.”
