Caleb Swanigan, a first-round NBA draft pick by the Portland Trail Blazers, a standout at Purdue in the Big Ten player of the year in 2017, died at the age of 25 on Monday night, the school announced on Tuesday.
Former Purdue and Blazers Star Caleb Swanigan dead at 25
Purdue men's basketball announced the death of its former star Caleb Swanigan, who died at the age of 25 on Monday night.
"Devastated," Purdue men's basketball tweeted on Tuesday. "Our thoughts and prayers to Caleb Swanigan’s family and friends. The world lost a gentle soul last night. Love you Biggie."
The Allen County Coroner’s Office, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, told WANE-TV 15 that Swanigan died of natural causes.
Swanigan's basketball career
Caleb Swanigan, an Indianapolis native, was born in 1997. He became a standout at Purdue. As a high school senior who attended and played for Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he was Indiana Mr. basketball in 2015.
Only a college sophomore, Swanigan was a first-team All-American in 2017 and the 2016-2017 Big Ten player of the year, Fox reported.
In the 2017 NBA draft, Swanigan was a first-round pick--becoming the 26 overall pick--by the Portland Trail Blazers, according to the Bleacher Report.
Swanigan played three seasons in the NBA with the Blazers and Sacramento Kings, averaging 2.3 points and 2.9 rebounds and shooting 43.8 percent from the floor.
Playing only part of the 2019-2020 season with Sacramento, Swanigan was traded back to the Portland Trail Blazers on January 20, 2020. His last game was in the regular-season finale on March 10, 2020, against the Phoenix Suns.
When the NBA created the NBA bubble, an isolation zone at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, after the pandemic suspended the season on March 11, 2020, Swanigan opted out of continuing to play the remainder of the season with the Trail Blazers due to personal reasons, according to Wikipedia.
Personal life
Although Swanigan left college after his sophomore year to pursue an NBA career, he returned to Purdue and received his degree in 2019.
In his early life, Swanigan also experienced homelessness. According to his profile at ESPN, Swanigan said he lived in five different homeless shelters as his family traveled between Indianapolis and Utah. Swanigan was quoted as saying he had attended more than a dozen different schools by the time he was 13.