18 YES! WEEKLY
Munford left. In the crowd Friday night was a homemade sign by a fan that read “Thank you Cat Barber.” The youngster, clad in Wolfpack attire, wasn’t thanking him for his time with the Swarm. Shonn Miller’s turnaround hook shot extends the Swarm’s lead to 19 points with 6:42 left in the second quarter, the largest the lead would be all night. While the lead dwindled as the quarter went along, Greensboro still found a way to end the quarter with a bang. With 5.9 seconds left, the Rapid’s Crawford misses a short jump shot. Archie Goodwin, showcasing a bit of that McDonalds All-American talent, grabs the rebound and drives the length of the court. He hit a driving layup with .9 seconds left in the half, and even earns an and-one and a trip to the foul line, which he converts. The Swarm enter the locker room with a 65-50 lead. As the team jogs off the court, Cheick Diallo threw his big arm around Rasheed Suliamon. Onto the court walks breast cancer survivors, all clad in pink.
Something unique to the NBA D-League is the opportunity to do themed jersey nights. A franchise can have a night where they design special jerseys and then auction them off after the game to raise money for a charity. For example, on Friday, January 6th, the Delaware 87ers hosted the Erie Bayhawks on Star Wars night. The 87ers wore special R2-D2 themed jerseys that were auctioned off to benefit Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. “One of the things that we know about this game of basketball is that it’s a connector,” Michele Wolfert, director of partnerships with the Swarm, said. “And one of the unique things about the D-League is the opportunity to have jersey partners, where through our team and our brand, we can connect a corporate partner to a non-profit through this special jersey night.” On Friday, March 4th, the Swarm connected one of their corporate partners, Allegacy Federal Credit Union, with Susan G. Komen Northwest North Carolina. The Swarm wore special pink jerseys against Grand Rapids. It wasn’t a straight pink jersey, but a pinkish camouflage blend that looked good. They featured the team name “Swarm” across the top, the white team numbers in the middle and the Allegacy logo on the bottom. The NBA D-League logo was tucked into the top right hand corner of the front of the jersey. Greensboro even wore matching pink shorts, creating a pink on pink look for a good cause. March 22-28, 2017
The jerseys were auctioned off during the game. The themed jersey nights are an example of the communion between the business and basketball operations of the Swarm. The benefit all went to a good cause, too. In a halftime ceremony, the Swarm welcomed breast cancer survivors onto the court along with Cathy Pace, the chief executive officer at Allegacy, and Diana Parrish, the executive director of Susan G. Komen Northwest NC. Everyone loved the pink jerseys. “I love the pink jerseys, love the pink jerseys,” Pace said. “I actually found out when Chrystal [Parnell], who is in charge of our PR, said, ‘You are going to be getting a pink jersey tonight out on center court.’ I said, ‘Do I get to put it on when I’m out there?’ She said no, it’s going to be framed. We’ll take it back to our organization and we will feature it very, very proudly.”
Grand Rapids jumps out on a quick 4-0 run to begin the second half, cutting the Swarm’s lead to 11. Later in the third quarter, Damien Wilkins commits a charge and the Swarm take a full timeout. During the break, there is a dance contest between two young girls on center court. Players in both huddles can’t help but take a peek as the little one dances to “Juju on that Beat.” The Drive cut the lead to nine five different times in the quarter. Each time, though, the Swarm push it back to double digits. Greensboro ends the quarter with a 4-0 run of their own. The buzzer sounds and the Swarm hold a 90-75 lead with the same 15-point lead that they had entering the half. At this point, Greensboro has four players in double digits for scoring. Mike Tobey, the Charlotte call-up, leads the way with 18 points on 8-12 shooting from the field.
For a long time, Steve Swetoha was a one-man operation. A veteran of the professional sports universe, Swetoha was hired in October of 2015 to lead the Swarm as team president. The team didn’t start playing until a year later and was a start-up. Swetoha had to oversee the whole operation from the ground up. For a while, he spent time in Charlotte, working with the Hornets organization to get everything up and running. The Hornets were instrumental in the smooth transition that has occurred the past two years from idea to fully functioning D-League franchise.
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