March 26, 2026
Eustis Senior Nina Brown Signs with Florida State College at Jacksonville
By Kyle Coppola
Eustis Senior Nina Brown Signs with Florida State College at Jacksonville
Surrounded by friends, family and coaches, Eustis High School senior Dakeria “Nina” Brown made it official Wednesday, signing her letter of intent to continue her basketball career at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Nina has been one of the most dominant players in Lake County over the past several seasons. She has played a key role in the resurgence of the Eustis Panthers girls basketball program. This season, she helped lead Eustis to a 21-6 record and the FHSAA Class 4A District 6 Championship, her third district title with the Panthers (2023, 2025 and 2026). The team advanced all the way to the FHSAA Regional Finals for the first time in more than three decades.
As a versatile and relentless guard/forward, Nina finished her Eustis career with 1,397 points, 554 rebounds (199 offensive, 355 defensive), 381 assists and 295 steals. She led Class 4A District 6 in assists this season with 112 and established herself as one of the top defensive players in the state.
For her efforts, Nina was named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Class 4A Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season.
“Nina is a super talented athlete with a confident competitive spirit that does whatever is necessary to win,” Eustis head coach Kelsea Brutton says. “She embraces the challenge of being relied upon and rises to the challenge. In pivotal moments she wants the ball and the responsibility that comes with it.”
Coach Brutton’s leadership has transformed the Eustis girls basketball program, restoring a level of success not seen in decades and helping multiple players earn opportunities to compete at the next level.
For Nina, the signing marks the next chapter in what has already been an outstanding high school career.
“This is just the beginning of her road,” Brutton says. “We are incredibly proud of her and wish her the best of luck as she competes for Florida State College in the fall of 2026.”
The Manta Rays of FSCJ compete in the NJCAA and will welcome one of Central Florida’s most accomplished recent graduates to their roster. Nina’s combination of scoring, rebounding, playmaking and defense should make her an immediate contributor in Jacksonville.
Congratulations to Nina, her family, friends, coaches and everyone who’s helped her get to this point!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
