Prairie View A&M University Athletics

Former pro basketball player Aaron Swinson joined the Prairie View A&M women’s basketball staff on May 19, 2016.

Swinson spent the previous five years as a women's basketball assistant coach for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Before joining the Bearcats, Swinson spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Tulsa.

While at Tulsa, Swinson also spent one season as an assistant coach with the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League. In 2008, he also served as one of the 10 selected head coaches for the NBA Development League pre-draft camp, and was an assistant coach for the inaugural NBA Development League in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Prior to his stint with the 66ers, Swinson was the Holland Hall Preparatory School varsity girl's basketball head coach. In 2006, he led the Dutch to a Southwest Preparatory Conference Division 2 Championship.

A native of Brunswick, Ga., Swinson was a three-year letterwinner and two-year team captain at Auburn University from 1991-94. He was a two-time all-Southeastern Conference selection and concluded his career with a .609 field goal percentage, just behind Charles Barkley's .626 on the school's all-time chart. He had a 16.9 scoring average and totaled 1,386 career points, which is No. 12 in the program's history.

Additionally, Swinson has 11 years of professional playing experience, beginning in 1994 with the Phoenix Suns. He was selected as the first overall pick by the Yakima Sun Kings in the 1994 Continental Basketball Association draft and led the team to the CBA championship a year later. Swinson earned team MVP and first-team all-Rookie accolades that season. He also played 10 seasons internationally in Italy, Spain, France and Argentina.

After completing his playing career, Swinson returned to Auburn and received his bachelor's degree in adult education in 2005. He later received his masters degree in criminal justice from UC in 2014.

Swinson is also a 2011 graduate of the NCAA and BCA A.C.E. Program. In addition, Swinson is a member of the BCA (Black Coaches & Administrators) and WBCA (Women's Basketball Coaches Association).

This past summer, Swinson was a participant in the 2016 WBCA Center for Coaching Excellence.

Swinson is married to Charlene Thomas-Swinson. The couple has a son, Charles, and a daughter, Jada.