Texas basketball: Projected first-round pick Dailyn Swain declares for 2026 NBA Draft

After one season with Texas basketball , Dailyn Swain will enter this year’s NBA draft, the junior announced Tuesday via his Instagram account. Swain, a 6-foot-8 wing, projects as a late first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which takes place June 22 at Barclays Center. After following coach Sean Miller from Xavier to Texas last offseason, Swain enjoyed a career season during the 2025-26 campaign.

He led the Longhorns with averages of 17. 3 points and 7. 5 rebounds per game as well as 129 total assists and 59 total steals while earning second-team All-SEC honors .

He also led Texas in total minutes with 1,178 and played in all 36 games for a Sweet 16 team that ended the season with a 21-15 record. Swain also emerged as one of the best on-ball defenders on the roster. MORE: Texas basketball's NCAA Tournament run is over, but Sean Miller's rebuild is here | Golden Texas Longhorns forward Dailyn Swain (3) brings the ball up the court in the second half of Texas’ 79-77 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, March 26, 2026.

(Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman) “I don't know if any of us really understand, truly, what a great individual season he's had,” Miller said after his team’s 79-77 loss March 26 to Purdue in the Sweet 16. “He’s carried us from start to finish, and he's been able to check the box in a lot of big, big ways. That’s another thing I'm really proud of, just watching how far he's come as a player, as a leader, as a teammate.