Caleb Swanigan didn’t have a major illness. As part of a plea arrangement with prosecutors, the former Portland Trail Blazers player pled guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge and was handed a 180-day suspended sentence with two days time served.
When Caleb’s mother decided to relocate the family to Houston, his older brother Carl Jr., concerned that Caleb would continue to gain weight if he moved with his mother, contacted Roosevelt Barnes, a former three-sport star at Purdue who was a member of the 1980 Final Four team and is now a successful sports agent.
Barnes, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, consented to take Caleb in on the condition that he could adopt and raise him as his own child. Prior to his eighth-grade year, Barnes adopted Swanigan.
Barnes addressed Swanigan’s dietary choices and began putting him through workouts comparable to those he did in college after gaining clearance from a cardiologist. He had dropped down to 260 pounds (120 kg) by the time he graduated from high school.
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