Holy Innocents’ girls basketball coach Nichole Dixon still has the video of Hailee Swain, then a fifth-grader, struggling to make a layup during one of her first workouts with the program seven years ago.
Dixon kept it, she said, because she felt like she was watching something special.
“I remember one day in the gym with her vividly,” Dixon said. “She was working on driving and shooting a left-handed layup and couldn’t make the layup. She kept trying with an uncommon determination and this joyful disposition. She listened to coaching with her eyes and ears, and I just had a hunch she would be able to do special things because of her mindset and heart.”
All of the hard work in the gym paid off this season for Swain and Holy Innocents’ as they defeated Hebron Christian, the top-ranked team and two-time defending champion, to win the state title in the Class 3A-A private school division. The championship was Holy Innocents’ fifth overall but first since 2020.
It also was the first state championship for Swain, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s all-classification girls player of the year. Her teams lost in the quarterfinals in 2024 and the semifinals the previous two seasons.
Swain had 30 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot in the Golden Bears’ 57-39 victory over Hebron Christian in the championship game at the Macon Coliseum three weeks ago. Her 30 points were the most by any player in the eight girls state finals.
“Coaching her in the state championship and watching her execute big and small things so well reminded me of those days when she was a sponge just wanting to grow,” Dixon said. “I’m grateful I could be along for this part of her journey.”
Swain, a 5-foot-11 point guard, averaged 23.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.0 steals in leading Holy Innocents’ to a 25-5 season. The Golden Bears won their final 12 games after a 64-54 loss to Hoover, the state champion in Alabama’s highest classification, on Jan. 25. She finished her high school career with 2,313 points and 510 rebounds.
Swain is the top-rated senior in Georgia and the No. 8 player in her class nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings. She was named Miss Georgia Basketball by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and the Georgia Girls Basketball Player of the Year by MaxPreps, and she was the only girls player from Georgia selected for the McDonald’s All-Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, both of which will be played in April.
Carver-Atlanta coach Akisha Graham got an up-close look at Swain twice this season. Carver lost to Holy Innocents’ once during the regular season and again in the Region 5-2A tournament championship game.
“Hailee Swain is a force to be reckoned with on the court and a very humbling spirit off the court” Graham said. “She poses a problem for anyone with loose footwork or low speed. She can beat you off the first step or bait you to sink in and then hit the pull-up. Hailee is an amazing player to watch and work to go up against.”
Swain will continue her basketball career next season at Stanford, where she will be joined by fellow high school All-Americans Lara Somfai of Brandenton, Florida, and Alexandra Eschmeyer of Lafayette, Colorado.
“Hailee is a lightning-quick guard and leader who can play both with the ball in her hands and off the ball,” Stanford coach Kate Paye said in a press release. “She is similar to a Candice Wiggins-type player. She is fiercely competitive, a great defender, scores off the bounce and has a wonderful 3-point shot.”
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