On Thursday, 2021 guard Isaiah Swope committed to the University of Southern Indiana. The Castle High School product's recruitment evolved slowly, but he picked up a handful of offers this season before picking the successful D2 program.

Swope is carrying Castle to an 8-5 record. Each loss, except for the Bloomington North game, has been close. Castle is currently on a four-game winning streak. For the year, Swope is averaging 21.2 points, 4.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game. He has not been great from three so far, but Swope still has an effective field goal percentage of 55. For a high-volume scorer, that is quite efficient against a 4A schedule.

Over the summer, Swope played on an extremely talented Indy Heat team - Caleb Furst, Blake Wesley, Luke Goode, Meechie Johnson, Pierce Thomas, etc. He was a back-up guard that played a defender, distributer role. That experience should benefit Swope early in his Southern Indiana career. His toughness and quickness should be able to get Swope on the court early in his career. Assuming Mateo Rivera does not return for his bonus COVID-19 year, USI will need to fill the point guard position. Rivera is the only Southern Indiana player averaging more than two assists per game this season. 

Swope joins Illinois power forward Jack Mielke in the USI 2021 recruiting class. Mielke is a stretch four that has been so critical to the Stan Gouard system throughout his career. On Friday, Indiana Basketball Source expects Southern Indiana to add another 2021 prospect.

This season, Southern Indiana is 11-4. The schedule is conference only this year. Entering the week, USI ranked 21st in the nation.