[1][2] Sweetney went to Oxon Hill for high school, where he was named Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year.

He continued the tradition of highly skilled big men at Georgetown University, averaging 18.2 points while shooting nearly 55% over his three-year collegiate career.

After a two-year stint with only 42 regular season contests in his rookie year, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls on October 4, 2005, alongside Tim Thomas and Jermaine Jackson, for Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis.

In that game, the Bulls would lose 87 - 108 to the Detroit Pistons while Sweetney recorded 2 points in 3 minutes of playing time.

On January 13, 2012, Sweetney agreed to a deal with the Vaqueros de Bayamon of the BSN, Puerto Rico's basketball league.