HSU Faculty’s daughter makes Team USA in time for Pan American Games

(ABILENE, Texas)–The Hardin-Simmons family has always represented greatness within the Abilene community and beyond. As seen by the many outstanding students, alumni, faculty, staff, and families affiliated with the university, HSU people are a unique crowd dedicated to serving others and committed to excelling beyond expectations. Hardin-Simmons is always proud to announce the success of those affiliated with the university, and Brittany Brewer is no exception. Next month, Brewer, daughter of Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at HSU, Dr. Jacob Brewer, will play with team USA in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Although Brewer attends another Texas university, her connection to Hardin-Simmons spans back to the late 1990s; Brewer’s mother Melanie was pregnant with Brittany while receiving her Masters of Business Administration from HSU. At the time, the Brewers worked as dorm parents on campus, while Melanie worked on her graduate program and Jacob worked towards receiving his Masters in Physical Therapy.

Brittany Brewer appears in a video from her FCA trip to Haiti wearing an HSU department of physical therapy shirt.

As a child, Brittany attended many girls’ basketball camps at HSU. In high school, she even won the Polk Key City Classic Basketball Tournament hosted at HSU each year. Brewer graduated from Wylie High School in 2016 and then moved to Lubbock to continue her education.

Dr. Brewer claims that Brittany’s road to her university of choice was full of opportunity. “She was recruited by every major college basketball program in the country, all the SEC and Big 12 teams as well as Stanford, with full-rides to all and many official campus recruiting visits to all those, yet she literally felt called by the Lord to stay close to home and go to Tech,” says Brewer.

While playing collegiately, Brewer has racked up multiple awards from both inside and outside her university. In 2017, Brewer made the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. She was named on the College Sports Information Directors of America’s Academic All-District list in both 2017 and 2018 and was named an Academic All-American in 2019.

Through it all, however, Brewer has overcome many obstacles and has helped lead her team to victory. After her initial collegiate coach was let go, an interim coach began at the university. After the interim coach left, the team had no coach or trainers, that it, until Brewer stepped in and led the team’s practices until a new coach came.

The road to success has not been an easy one, Dr. Brewer explains. “She (Brittany) has calculated that she has had around 60 players and coaches come and go over the years since she signed on, but she refused to transfer, and I believe the Lord has rewarded her steadfastness,” he says.

Off the court, Brewer enjoys photography and design and is a vital part of her campus’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) program. Brewer has always enjoyed art, taking photos and designing prints and t-shirts often. During her senior year in high school, she even had to decide whether to compete in the state basketball tournament or show her art at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.

As a freshman, Brewer aided in bringing mission work back to FCA on her campus. Because of her actions, the club has since traveled to Haiti with the Carson Wentz Audience of One organization. To raise funds for the trip, participants sold t-shirts of Brewer’s design. She was able to cover not only her own cost of attending the trip but also that of a teammate who Brewer had shared the gospel with who had never been on a mission trip.