Pine-Richland basketball player Andy Swartout knows he is a lucky guy.
“I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the shots I've gotten. It directly translates to the success I've had in basketball in this high school career.”
The 6-1 senior guard is not the most talented player in the WPIAL basketball ranks, but he is one of the hardest workers. Swartout says he has a secret weapon –his 19-year-old brother Tyler.
“A lot of people can get someone to rebound for them, but the connection…”
Swartout pauses and considers how to find the right word. “I have fun going to the gym with Tyler. It makes me want to help get him out of the house and go spend time with him, just be in the gym with him all day.”
That’s not much of an exaggeration. If you ever walk through the gym at the Pine Community Center in northern Allegheny County, don’t be surprised if you see Andy and Tyler on the floor with a basketball in hand. Andy will be firing jump shot after jump shot. Tyler handles the rebounding.
Deanna Swartout knows exactly where her boys are.
“I would say four to five days a week they go up there, and they shoot. Tyler loves it. He just pops right along, and he does what he needs to do and never a fuss. Never a complaint.”
Their father Tom was a college athlete, and he too has enjoyed watching the development of their youngest sons’ special bond.
“It kind of started early, and Andy's always spent a lot of time with him. I think they just have a natural friendship. It wasn't always about the rebounding, although that's been a big thing the last five years.”
Andy shoots – a lot.
“Over the summer, I've had days we've had a thousand shots from 15 feet and beyond,” he smiles. “We go for like three hours in the morning. Maybe we break, and we get some lunch, and then we go back.”
He says he never knows how many shots he has made while he practices, but Tyler always does.
“I couldn't keep the concentration to count that many shots,” Andy admits. “But Tyler will do it.”
You see, 19-year-old Tyler is autistic. He is just a year-and-a-half older than his baby brother Andy. He talks very little, but he monitors every shooting session.
“How I kind of describe Tyler to people is that I will talk, and he responds. He won't start up a conversation, but when I prompt him or like engage him a little bit, he'll talk back,” says the youngest of the four Swartout children.
“What he really does when we shoot is he counts my makes. Every single time a shot goes in, he counts it. At the end of the workout, I'll say how many I make today? He'll say ‘632,’ or whatever the number is. It's really cool that he does that.”
Deanna Swartout says Andy’s friends and teammates have always been so kind and considerate of Tyler. “It breaks my heart that Tyler just doesn't give back, and he doesn't have the social communication. And the kids are so wonderful to him.”
The mother of four collects her thoughts for a minute, then continues. “I just wish that Tyler could give back, because it would form so many new bonds, but he doesn't need to. Over time, I have just learned that he is who he is for a reason. He is meant to be Tyler, and I just adore him.”
Basketball has been a big part of the Swartout family for many years. Andy’s first coach was his dad. In 2012, when Andy was in third grade, he played youth basketball for Tom. It turns out five of the six seniors on this year’s varsity team at Pine-Richland were on that with Andy.
Still Tom knew there would come a day when Andy would have to figure some things out on his own.
“Somewhere between seventh, eighth, and ninth grade, they (teenage sons) stop listening,” says Tom Swartout.
“I think Tyler was really big in helping Andy because he just wanted to shoot for 45 minutes or an hour and not worry about his footwork and spin rate (on the basketball) and everything else.”
He smiled a wry smile and said, “We all know dads are a little nuts. So I think that was huge, because I think they could just go over there and work on what they want to work on.
Andy says Tyler never tells him what to do or what to practice, but his older has still had a big impact on his career.
“He teaches me just to give your best. I mean, everyone has their days where things aren't going their way. Tyler has his difficulties, but every day he is waking up with a smile on his face. He's doing what he does to get smarter. Our family, my siblings and I have become very good at keeping him engaged and spending time with him. He has showed me how to be positive about everything you do in life. That's Tyler to me.”
Deanna nearly cries when she talks about relationships between her kids.
“Tyler is the heart of our family. He is the heart of our family. I can look at Tyler and Andy and what they do together, and it makes me feel so proud. It warms my heart to hear people in the community see it and feel it. You really know it's a good thing. It's real stuff.”
Tom agrees.
“I think I think all of our kids have benefited from Tyler.” But he acknowledges having a child with special needs is hard.
“It's a shock when you have…it’s a shock to your system. The first five years or so, it's tough. But he (Tyler) has really complimented and added to our family. I think all of our kids -- and us -- are maybe a little bit more well-rounded in life because you have to deal with a lot more things every day than maybe the normal person.”
Andy is more than just a basketball player. He’s an exceptional student, and he is senior class president at Pine-Richland High School. He’ll play baseball for the Rams this spring. He has already been accepted to Notre Dame and is waiting on a few other applications before deciding where he will go to college in the fall.
That decision is bringing Andy a whole new set of emotions.
“It's going to be a lot,” Andy confesses.
“It's something I don't like to think about, but something that keeps creeping in my mind as I'm getting closer to that next step of my life. I know he's there whenever I need him, whether it's a FaceTime or whenever I come home to visit or my family comes to visit me wherever I end up. I know what we have, it will be lifelong.”
“I think it's going to end up with road trips,” says mom Deanna. “That's how it's gonna end. We're just going to hop in the car and go to where the kids are. We are going to be a three-man team, Tom and Tyler and I. We will just go see the kids.”
She also has her fingers crossed the Rams make a late season charge and end up as WPIAL basketball champions, and that Andy will be able to put his winner’s medal around Tyler’s neck.
For Tom, he says he can’t wait to see what his kids do next.
“I'm excited for Andy to go to college, and I don't want to be a governor. I want us to go where they are. Tyler will be there. We'll go visit them, and it'll be really nice.”
Until then, Andy and Tyler are going to keep working out together and shooting for the stars.
“With all that he's done for me," Andy says. "I think he's my biggest fan.
100 percent. He's my best friend.”