CHICAGO (March 14, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Danielle Carnegie of Grayson High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Georgia Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Carnegie is the first Gatorade Georgia Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Grayson High School.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the court, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Carnegie as Georgia’s best high school girls basketball player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Candace Parker (2003-04, 2002-03 & 2001-02, Naperville Central High School, Ill.), Paige Bueckers (2017-18, Hopkins High School, Minn.) and Juju Watkins (2022-23 & 2021-22, Sierra Canyon School, Calif.).
The 5-foot-9 senior guard led the Rams to a 32-0 record and the Class 7A state championship this past season. Carnegie averaged 21.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.9 steals, and she tallied 21 points and eight boards in Grayson’s 65-44 win over North Paulding High School in the state final. A three-time Regional Player of the Year, Carnegie was also the 2022 Class 6A State Player of the Year. She is ranked as the nation’s No. 47 recruit in the Class of 2024 by Prospects Nation.
An avid chess player, Carnegie has volunteered locally as a youth basketball coach and she has donated her time at her school’s Special Education prom. “Danielle is a special player who made a tremendous impact on Grayson’s program,” said Courtney Mincy, head coach of Brookwood High School. “She’s able to score in various ways, and her size at the guard position creates mismatches with smaller guards.”
Carnegie has maintained a weighted 3.79 GPA in the classroom. She has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at Georgia Tech this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Carnegie joins recent Gatorade Georgia Girls Basketball Players of the Year Courtney Ogden (2022-23, Westminster School), Sydney Bowles (2021-22, Woodward Academy), Raven Johnson (2020-21, Westlake High School) and Sania Feagin (2019-20, Forest Park High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.
