Brookwood High School Basketball Player Diana Collins Voted ITG Next Georgia Female Athlete of the Month for January 2023
Congratulations to Brookwood High School senior basketball player Diana Collins, our January 2023 ITG Next Georgia Female Athlete of the Month, presented by Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance. Collins received the most votes among four candidates selected for consideration for the award. The other candidates were Warner Robins senior point guard Jada Morgan, Dalton High’s Grace Ridley, and Westminster School’s Courtney Ogden.
Collins is having quite the season in her final year as a member of the Broncos girls basketball team. Earlier in the season, in a 32-point win over Greater Atlanta Christian, she became Brookwood’s all-time leading scorer. Collins scored 21 points in the win, which gave her 1,753 career points at the time. That was good enough for the Brookwood record, which had been held by Becky Hollaway, who played for the Brookwood girls team in the early 1980s. Collins also made her college decision official, signing with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Collins, a 5-foot, 9-inch point guard/shooting guard, is one of the biggest reasons the Brookwood girls basketball team is No. 1 in our Georgia girls Top-25, a spot they have held all season long. The Brookwood girls are 17-1 through their first 18 games, and they sit atop Region 4-7A with an undefeated region mark. Collins is averaging 21 points per game, to go along with 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 2.4 assists per game so far this season.
Brookwood Broncos girls basketball coach Courtney Mincy had high praise Collins as a standout floor leader and point guard.
“Diana is a great person on and off the court,” Mincy said. “She has great skill and has continued to improve her game each year. She is a competitive person and makes others around her raise their game to the next level. In addition, she is a great defender and has a high basketball IQ. She studies the game and puts in a lot of hours to perfect her craft.”
She went on to credit Collins’ hard work and perseverance for her ability to become the school’s all-time scoring leader. Collins’ point total through 18 games sits at 1,886, according to Mincy, who added, “Diana is determined and focused on and off the court and has maintained a 3.5 GPA. I am proud of everything she has accomplished, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know Diana and watch her grow as a player and as a person.”
Collins was gracious when Mincy told her she had received the most votes in winning the Athlete of The Month Award.
“It is such an honor to be awarded as the ITG Next Athlete of the Month,” she said. “It shows me and others that hard work pays off and to keep working hard.”
Mincy and her Lady Broncos are heading down the home stretch of the season, with all region games remaining. They are hoping to take it a couple of steps past their finish in 2022, when they lost in the Class 7A quarterfinals to eventual state champion Norcross. Collins has led the Brookwood girls basketball team to 63 wins so far in her career, and the only thing missing is a state championship. Stay tuned. The Lady Broncos and Diana Collins aren’t done yet.
