Texas forward Dailyn Swain drafted by Chicago Bulls

Dailyn Swain, former Texas men’s basketball guard/forward, was selected No. 15 overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2026 NBA Draft Tuesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“A lot of emotions (tonight),” Swain said during a post-draft media availability. “I was super nervous coming into it, but now I’m very excited. Super blessed to be here, super excited to get to work. I’m just grateful, for sure.”

Swain only played one season for Texas after transferring from Xavier University with his head coach, Sean Miller, but left a legacy and impression that will make him a Longhorn for life. In that season, Swain stepped up to lead the Longhorns in a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Miller has been with Swain throughout his journey and hopes to use his progression as evidence of why Longhorn fans and future Texas players should believe in his system.

“(Swain) is gonna pave the way for so many others that are gonna look at our program, the University of Texas, as ‘That’s a place where I can make my dreams come true,’” Miller said in an interview with On Texas Football in late May. 

Swain’s selection at 15 continues the trend of seeing Texas talent in the first round at the NBA draft, as he’s the third Texas player to be selected in the first round since 2021, including former Texas guard Tre Johnson, who was selected No. 6 overall by the Washington Wizards last year. Since 2000, Texas has had 10 lottery picks — picks one through 14 — and 17 first-rounders, both ranking seventh among colleges.

Swain entered the draft as a projected late first rounder, already much higher than preseason projections. Yet, Swain did what he does best: defy the odds.

From a kid coming out of high school in Columbus, Ohio, with no offers from Big Ten or Southeastern Conference schools, to being given a chance with Miller at Xavier and following him to Texas, to eventually becoming the face of the program, Swain has now finished one pick shy of the lottery.

“The Big East was my freshman year, so just learning impact, learning how important that is (and) just trying to get on the court in any way I could as a freshman, scrapping (and) being a scrappy guy,” Swain said in the post-draft media availability. “Then taking that step to the SEC, I kinda became the guy, primary ball handler, the scorer. I did a lot of the damage, so all of them were steps in my career and I’m ready to make this next step.”

But before that next step, there’s one thing Swain needs to do to connect with his new city’s culture.

“I’ve never had deep-dish pizza, so I can’t wait to try that when I get to Chicago,” Swain said in the post-draft media availability.

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