FORT WAYNE — Former Indiana Mr Basketball and Purdue star Caleb Swanigan is no more and he died at just a small age of 25.
The Allen County Coroner’s office ascertained Tuesday, that Swanigan died this Monday, 20 June 2022 of natural causes at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne.
A private doctor has been assigned to handle his death certificate, according to Rebecca Maze(senior investigator at the coroner’s office).
“The Purdue basketball family is profoundly in deep grief and devastated at the loss of such a talented basketball player, Caleb Swanigan,” coach Matt Painter said. Caleb was an unselfish person and a great soul who outshined both on and off the court. He made a huge difference in everyone’s lives, so he will be missed greatly.
The 6-foot-9 centre was from Fort Wayne and joined Homestead High School. As a sophomore, he led Homestead past Kokomo 68-60 in a 2014 Class 4A Marion Regional semi-final game. He earned 18 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.
The following year, Swanigan was reclassified as a senior. He also led the Spartans to the Class 4A state title and thence named Indiana Mr Basketball.
From there, he started the journey with Purdue from 2015-2017.
Swanigan was designated as The Associated Press player of the year in the Big Ten in 2017 when he averaged 18.4 points and 12.4 rebounds and directed Purdue to the conference title.