Rio Grande --- University of Rio Grande RedStorm head women's basketball coach David Smalley did not venture too far away to land his latest recruit in Hailee Swain of South Gallia High School. Swain signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for Rio Grande beginning in the 2010-11 season.

Swain, a 5'9" guard, averaged 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Runnin' Rebels as a senior. She shot 47 percent (89-of-191) from the field while dishing out 33 assists and recording 42 steals. Those numbers earned Swain 1^st Team All-District 13 honors this past season and 2^nd Team All-District from the AP. 

She was 2^nd Team All-District 13 as a junior. Swain led South Gallia in rebounding three years in a row. She served as team captain this past season and garnered the United States Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete Award. 

Swain was also a member of the South Gallia volleyball team while in high school.

"I am excited and I can't wait to meet my new teammates and coaches," Swain said. "It's a whole new adventure in my life and I can't wait to start."

Academically, Swain comes to Rio Grande as a very sound student. She finished in the top 10 percent of her class while earning numerous academic awards, including the United States Army Reserve National Scholar Athlete Award, Academic Excellence Foundation Award, President's Education Award, State Board of Education Award of Merit and an Honors Diploma from the Ohio Department of Education.

Swain is active in activities outside of athletics as well as she was crowned 2009 River Recreation Festival Queen. 

Coach Smalley is pleased to be able to bring Swain into the program. "We're excited to have Hailee Swain join our family here at the University of Rio Grande and our basketball program," he said. "Hailee comes to us with a solid academic background, a 3.7 GPA, wants to major in radiological technology."

"She is a very good individual, very good student, just a great fit for, not only for our university, but for the women's basketball program," Smalley added. "Hailee played at South Gallia under Coach Brett Bostic and Coach Bostic has really done a great job with the Lady Rebels."

Swain listed the reasons why she chose Rio Grande. "It is a small school, which is what I'm used to," she said. "It has a great women's basketball program and I have heard wonderful things about their radiology program, which is what I'm majoring in." 

Smalley talked about where he sees Swain fitting into the program. "In Coach Bostic's system, Hailee has primarily played on the inside and did a great job at the high school level. At the college level we're going to anticipate and challenge Hailee to maybe, change her game up a little bit and play on the perimeter, where she will face the basket," Smalley said. "We look for her to play the three (small forward) spot, mix it up a little bit with the four position (power forward) on the inside."

Swain considers her strengths as a player to be court awareness and vision and she stressed that she needs to continue to work hard to improve her overall skills as a basketball player at the college level. "I feel that my best assets are that I can see the whole floor well and I'm always aware of my surroundings," she said. "I constantly need to work on everything, but I would really like to concentrate on extending my shooting range."

Smalley talked about Swain's game. "Hailee has the ability to shoot and score from the medium range and we want to increase that range out to the three-point line to help her adjust to our needs at the college level," he said. "Hailee's a very coachable young lady and we don't anticipate any problems there. We know that she is going to work hard and give us her all in the classroom as well as on the court."

"She does a nice job of rebounding," Smalley added. "After learning our system and adjusting to the college style of basketball, we anticipate that she will have great years in the future. More than likely, she'll start out in our junior varsity program and as she gets more comfortable, work her way up to the varsity level." 

Living within the same county as Rio Grande, Swain has the advantage of knowing a considerable amount about the school prior to arriving. "I have always heard good things about the university, and living close I have already had the chance to experience Rio Grande a little bit," Swain said. "I know the basketball program is great, I know some people that have had the opportunity to play for Coach Smalley and they talk about how much they improved, and how much fun it was." 

Swain's goals while at Rio Grande are to work hard and be the best player that she can be. "I want to improve on all my skills and play my best, and as hard as I can. I want to push myself so I never let my teammates and coaches down," Swain said. 

Hailee is the daughter of Billy and Tabby Swain of Mercerville, Ohio.

Swain joins Megan Barnes of Hillsboro High School, Kasey Turley of Reedsville Eastern High School, Ironton High School's Janie Morris, Brooke Shaw from Waynesfield-Goshen High School, Kate Hammond of Greenfield McClain High School and Chelsea Delong of Coal Grove as the current members of the 2010-11 recruiting class. 

Rio Grande finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 16-15 overall record and went 7-7 in the Mid-South Conference.