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Duane Swanson

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Duane Swanson
Personal information
Born(1913-08-23)August 23, 1913
Waterman, Illinois
DiedSeptember 13, 2000(2000-09-13) (aged 87)
Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolWaterman (Waterman, Illinois)
PositionGuard / forward
Career history
1933–1934Columbia Studios
1934–1935Joe E. Brown All-Stars
1935–1937Universal Studios
1937–1939MGM
1940Sheboygan Red Skins
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1936 Berlin Team

Duane Alexander Swanson (August 23, 1913 – September 13, 2000) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal. He also played professionally: In eleven games during the 1939–40 National Basketball League (NBL) season, he averaged 1.2 points per game for the Sheboygan Red Skins.[1] Duane Swanson's first name is often incorrectly attributed to be "George."[1][2][3]

Biography

Swanson grew up in Waterman, Illinois and attended Illinois Wesleyan University for a brief time before transferring to the University of Iowa.[3] He played on Iowa's freshman basketball team when he and a friend decided to drop out of school and hitchhike to Los Angeles, California to enroll at the University of Southern California (USC).[3] Iowa head coach Rollie Williams accused USC head coach Sam Barry of luring both players to California, which Barry denied.[2] Consequently, Barry rejected Swanson and his friend from playing for USC.[3] Instead, they signed a contract to play for Columbia Studios' team, which led to their first connections in the Hollywood industry.[3] In 1934, Swanson signed with Joe E. Brown's All-Stars team, whom he spent the 1934–35 season competing for.[2] In spring 1935, he played on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-Star team that toured Japan, playing in 15 games.[3]

In 1935–36, Swanson played for Universal Studios' basketball team.[2] This squad finished second in the national AAU tournament and first in the Olympic Trials, winning the right to represent the United States at the Berlin Olympics.[3] He ended up playing in three games during the Olympics and won a gold medal.[2]

Upon returning to the United States, Swanson stayed in Los Angeles a few more years competing for studio teams before returning to the Midwest in 1940.[3] He signed with the NBL's Sheboygan Red Skins to finish out the season, appearing in eleven games.[1][3] This stint would be his last as a professional basketball.[3] Swanson returned to Southern California and after serving in the United States Army during World War II, spent the next 25 years working in the entertainment industry.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "George (Duane) Swanson NBL stats". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Duane Swanson". Peach Basket Society. November 13, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Duane Swanson". Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Duane Swanson". Olympedia. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
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