By Susan Horne

Many great things have come from the small community of Atlanta, one of Winn Parish’s greatest kept secrets for many years. Doctors, lawyers, therapists, nurses, teachers, accountants, loggers, small business owners – these are just a few of the ‘greats’ who are products of Atlanta High School.

Among this list one will also find basketball coaches. One such product is a 2000 graduate, Bradley McLaren, who was the Class C State Player of the Year and played for Coach Gene Rushing at Louisiana College. He brought his love of the game to Zwolle High School in Sabine Parish.

This is a destination already rich with its own legacy of championship basketball – as evidenced by the school’s street address of “Championship Drive.” McLaren, son of retired teacher and Winn Parish Police Jury President, Frank McLaren, joined ZHS in 2004 as a teacher and boys’ basketball coach.

Throughout his tenure as an educator at Zwolle, McLaren also served as Assistant Principal from 2011-2014, and Principal from 2014 to present. During his 20-year tenure as boys’ basketball coach, McLaren has added to the hardware at ZHS and broken state records in the process.

Over those 20 seasons, McLaren’s teams have accumulated 672 wins. Along the way, the Zwolle High School Hawks have made 14 state tournament appearances, finishing as state runner-up 5 times and bringing home the State Championship trophy 8 times, most recently for 2024.