Sean Miller Previews Impact of Xavier Transfers With Texas Longhorns

The two transfers following Miller to the Longhorns from Xavier -- Dailyn Swain and Lassina Traore -- make up the other part of player retention on the Texas roster. Miller views their additions as more important than just what they will provide on the court.

"Being able to get Dailyn Swain and Lassina Traore from Xavier, who understood our program, understands our staff, how we do things, I think it will be very helpful for everybody else because they know terminology and our way of doing things on an every day basis," Miller said to Rothstein.

Swain and Traore are both players Miller has high hopes for in his first season at Texas.

Swain is a young rising junior. He will turn 20 this summer and arrived to Miller's Xavier at only the age of 17. He was a true 18-year-old freshman and 19-year-old sophomore. As an upperclassman at Texas, he will be able to put his early experience to the test in the SEC.

"He does a lot of different things -- his rise on the court stems from his versatility," Miller said. "Some of it is that Dailyn has a great attitude, he's very intelligent, plays the game to win it. And I think when you are rooted in that right there, it allows you to continue to improve."

There is one area specifically that Miller thinks Swain is destined to improve in this season.

"Everybody is looking at his shooting, and I definitely believe he can make a jump this season in taking more threes and making more," Miller said. "If you look at his free throw percentage, he's one of the leading free throw shooters in the Big East last year from start to finish. I think that's a really good sign of things to come for him as he continues to expand his game."

At Texas, Traore will be part of his fourth college program in five years. He spent a year at Saint Louis before transferring to Long Beach State for two years. He made his way to Miller and Xavier in Cincinnati ahead of last season, but he tore his ACL last fall and was unavailable for the whole year.

In the interview, Rothstein brought up that Traore is one of the few double-figure rebounders Miller has coached. He averaged slightly over ten rebounds per game in back-to-back years at Long Beach State and, according to Miller, was slated to be Xavier's starting center a year ago. Now, Texas expects to get a healthy Traore for the 2025-26 season.

"(The torn ACL) happened so early last year in October that I think he's about seven months and some change since his surgery, so he has a lot of that behind him," Miller said. "We're looking forward to having a good summer with him, but I have no doubt that his experience, his rebounding, his quickness defensively can be a real asset for our team this year."

Texas' summer workouts will get started in Austin in two weeks, with the coaching staff getting a first in-person look at the team as a whole. It could be the start of something special for the Longhorns under Miller, who still have one more spot to fill on the roster.