Danielle Carnegie already had made a name for herself in Georgia girls basketball circles before arriving at Class 7A Grayson for the 2023-24 school year.
After all, the 5-foot-9 guard was a two-time first-team all-state selection at Class 6A Rockdale County and one of the state’s top college prospects. But she took things to another level in her senior season, averaging 21 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.9 steals in helping lead Grayson to a 32-0 season and the first girls basketball state championship in school history.
Carnegie is a four-star recruit who is rated No. 48 nationally among seniors by ESPN. A Georgia Tech signee, Carnegie has been named the state’s all-classification player of the year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gatorade and MaxPreps and was named Miss Georgia Basketball by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
“Dani is such a great leader,” Grayson coach Tim Slater said. “She holds herself to a high standard and does the same for her teammates. She is so unselfish and a team player. She guarded out of position all year, guarding other teams’ (power forwards), and didn’t complain once. When a kid of her caliber is willing to do that, it empowers others to accept and embrace similar sacrifices. This team did just that, sacrificed for each other for the greater good, and 32-0 is the result.”
The Rams finished as Georgia’s only unbeaten team, boys or girls, and did it in dominating fashion. Only one game all season, a 55-52 overtime victory against Class 2A champion Mount Paran Christian in November, was decided by fewer than 15 points. The Rams won their five playoff games by an average of 30.4 points, including a 65-44 victory against North Paulding in the Class 7A championship game.
Carnegie finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals against North Paulding, including six points in a 19-3 first-quarter run that gave the Rams a 21-5 lead. North Paulding never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
“Most teams will make a run; that’s basketball,” North Paulding coach Wes Willis said. “Danielle can make her own personal run within the game to flip it to her team’s favor. When we had a small run to come out in the second half, she made her own 6-0 run to turn it back to Grayson’s favor. That’s something only that top 5% can do.”
McEachern coach Phyllis Arthur, whose 2012 undefeated state championship team that included six Division I signees is considered one of the best girls teams in state history, faced off with Grayson twice this season. Grayson won 68-40 in a mid-January regular-season game and 76-31 in the second round of the playoffs.
“Danielle is a great all-around player that can do it all,” Arthur said. “She is one of those players that cannot be stopped. She won’t allow you to stop her, and that is what makes her great, greater than all the rest. We played Grayson twice this season. The first matchup, Danielle scored 21. OK, not too bad of a night on us, but in the Sweet 16 she scored 34 points, and that was without her playing the last quarter. She beat us all by herself. …
“When I heard she was transferring to Grayson, I knew she was making an already good team great. I knew they could, should and would win state. As the season progressed, I knew they would not be stopped. They were going to do the hardest thing to do … play an entire year and not lose.”
Carnegie will play one last time for Grayson in the six-team Chipotle Nationals on April 4-6 in Brownsburg, Indiana.
About the Author
