TOLEDO, Ohio — Yolanda Swain is a born and bred Toledoan.
An all-star basketball player at Start High School, Swain's love for the game began in fifth grade.
"My dad was my coach at the time and I've always been taller than everybody else," she said. "Then he got half of our backyard cemented, like paved in cement, and put a basketball rim in the back of our garage and kind of made like our own little oasis back there for basketball and then it kind of just took off from there."
She committed to further her athletic career at the University of Toledo, right around the same time current head coach Tricia Cullop arrived.
"She literally told me she signed her contract with UT and then flew out to see me in North Carolina to come watch me play," Swain said. "So that right there was like, I really must be something for her to do all that and get on a plane to come and see me. So it's kinda like we grew together."
In her time as a Rocket, Yolanda Richardson branded herself as one of the top shot blockers in the MAC and still holds the record at Toledo for shots blocked to this day. She also earned two-time all-MAC second-team honors, scored in double digits on 45 different occasions and was part of the 2011 WNIT championship team.
Additionally, she was one of Cullop's captains and was relied on for her leadership and well-roundedness as a player and teammate.
Fast forward a decade later, where Yolanda Swain is now a mother of three.
"It was always such a family-oriented environment and even if when I go back how many years later, it's still the same thing," Swain said. "That's what makes me miss it the most because it was always home no matter what. Connections and relationships are a really big thing that I carry still with me today. I think that's what Toledo has built with us because (Tricia) was always big about us being in the community."
Swain helps coach her son's basketball team using what she learned from the backyard to the college stage and everyone who supported her along the way.
"It's just full circle. I really believe in the full circle effect, so I really want them to make sure that they start making those good impressions now so that the older they get, when they need somebody else behind them for something, they have that community because they left good impressions."
Swain also runs her own daycare and plans to lead her life and career with those same values she learned as a Rocket.
"I give a lot of gratitude to people who do for me and I feel like that will help you come full circle when it's your time to get the same in return," she said. "I just hope to keep my doors open, keep the kids flowing in and just building a community within this daycare to flourish outward."
For Swain, her daycare and her family, it's all about making a lasting impact for future generations.
"With my kids, just continue to teach them to be great people no matter what and giving their 100% all and effort," Swain said.
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