Brianna "Bre" Matthews Shows Fort Pierce She's More Than a Basketball Player

Brianna Bre Matthews

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Basketball may have brought everyone to the gym, but it didn't take long to realize Brianna "Bre" Matthews had something much bigger in mind.

The Lincoln Park Academy senior recently hosted her own basketball camp in Fort Pierce, creating an opportunity to give back to the same community that has supported her along the way.

It was an awesome event to watch.

Bre had plenty of opportunities to showcase the basketball skills that have earned her multiple college offers and interest from programs at the collegiate level, but what impressed us here at Drippin Culture News most wasn't what she did with the basketball in her hands. It was how she led.

Throughout the camp, Bre worked with the young players, encouraged them, taught them, and made sure they were enjoying the experience. She wasn't there just to put her name on a basketball camp. She was involved, and you could see how much giving back to the kids meant to her.

At a time when Bre could easily be focused solely on her own future, she made time to pour into someone else's.

More Than a Basketball Camp

Bre created the camp as a way to give back to the community, and that purpose could be felt throughout the event.

Leading by Example

Leadership can be easy to talk about. It's different when you get an opportunity to actually see it.

Watching Bre interact with the younger players gave us a chance to see another side of the student-athlete. She was patient. She communicated. She demonstrated skills and encouraged the campers to keep working when they didn't get something right the first time.

Those moments mattered just as much as anything that happened during a drill.

For the young athletes attending the camp, they weren't simply learning basketball from an accomplished high school player. They were spending time with someone from their own community who is showing them what's possible when talent is matched with discipline.

That's important.

Sometimes our young people need to see someone who looks like them, comes from where they come from, and is only a few years ahead of them doing the things they hope to accomplish one day.

Bre gave them that opportunity.

Excellence On and Off the Court

Basketball is only one part of Brianna Matthews' story.

Bre is an International Baccalaureate student-athlete entering her senior year at Lincoln Park Academy with an impressive 5.16 GPA.

Yes, 5.16.

Student First, Athlete Second

Bre is also a member of the National Honor Society, balancing the demands of a challenging academic schedule with basketball and everything else she has going on.

On the court, that same work ethic has helped her become a player attracting attention at the next level. Bre currently holds multiple college offers and has additional interest from programs looking at her as a potential collegiate basketball player.

Having the ability to play college basketball is an accomplishment by itself. Doing it while maintaining a 5.16 GPA tells you a lot about the person behind the player.

She's putting herself in a position where basketball can create opportunities for her, but she's also making sure her education gives her options long after the final buzzer sounds.

There's Another Side to Bre

One of the things we enjoy most here at Drippin Culture News is having the opportunity to tell the stories of young people in our community and finding out who they are outside of what everyone already knows them for.

For Bre, there's another talent that has nothing to do with basketball.

She's a published poet.

From the Court to the Page

Bre is currently working toward releasing her own collection of poetry for people to read.

That's an important part of her story because it shows another side of her creativity and personality.

The same young lady competing on the basketball court, maintaining a 5.16 GPA, and leading kids through drills at her basketball camp also finds time to express herself through writing.

It would be easy to put Bre into the box of "basketball player."

She clearly doesn't belong in one.

A Future Bigger Than Basketball

As Bre prepares for her senior year and the possibility of playing basketball at the collegiate level, she already has an idea of where she wants her education to eventually take her.

She aspires to become a forensic psychiatrist.

Building a Future With Options

That's what makes what Bre is doing now so impressive.

She's not waiting until graduation to start thinking about her future. She's building it right now.

The academics matter.

The National Honor Society matters.

The college basketball opportunities matter.

The poetry matters.

And that basketball camp in Fort Pierce mattered too.

Together, they tell the story of a young woman who is discovering all the different things she's capable of becoming.

Fort Pierce Should Remember the Name Brianna "Bre" Matthews

There are going to be plenty of important moments ahead for Bre.

There will be a senior basketball season, college decisions, graduation, more poetry, and hopefully many more opportunities for her to continue giving back.

But watching her basketball camp in Fort Pierce gave us here at Drippin Culture News a glimpse of the young woman she's becoming.

Yes, Bre can play basketball.

But she can also lead.

She can excel in the classroom.

She can write.

She can serve her community.

And most importantly, she has a vision for where she wants her life to go.

That's why this camp was about much more than basketball.

Brianna "Bre" Matthews is building a future for herself while making sure she reaches back and encourages the next group of young people coming behind her.

That's the kind of story we believe deserves to be told.