Head Coach Shawn Swords

Laurentian University knew full well what they were getting when the decision was made to hire men’s basketball coach Shawn Swords in the summer of 2007, replacing Virgil Hill. And they were more than comfortable in that knowledge.

A product of the Voyageurs program, Swords starred for five years with the Blue and Gold, twice helping to lead the team to a berth at nationals. An OUA All-Star in four of his five seasons at L.U., the Ottawa native also cracked the CIS All-Star team during his final year of post-secondary ball.

From there, it was on to bigger and better things as the hard-working student of the game would suit up in more than 100 games wearing the Team Canada colours, highlighted by a trip to the Olympics in 2000 (Sydney, Australia).

It was this very same set of personal character traits and attributes that would make Swords such a coveted acquisition when he decided to leave his playing days behind after a career that included a decade spent in the European professional ranks.

While Laurentian represents his first foray into the role of head coach, Shawn Swords has gleaned a great deal from some very highly respected mentors that he played for over the years. He suggests that is own style will combine elements of things he has learned from the likes of Dave Smart, Jay Triano and Peter Campbell, merge that knowledge with his own personality to hopefully lead the Voyageurs to Nationals once again.

Swords brings not only a passion for the game of basketball, but also for the setting that he currently enjoys each and every time he steps on the court. “I just want to stay here – I want to help build this program and stay as long as I can”, he admits.

Constantly searching to improve his craft, Swords will enter the 2010-2011 with the benefit of having served as an assistant coach, this past summer, with the Canadian Junior Men’s team that claimed Bronze in an overtime thriller at the FIBA Americas U18 championships in San Antonio, Texas.