From Redshirt to MVP: Donte Briggs Trusts the Process, and His Coach

Briggs has had one of the more quietly compelling seasons in the HBCUAC this year, putting up 9.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.7 steals per game across 26 starts — every single one of them — while leading the Knights on a run that culminated in him being named Tournament MVP. But the numbers alone don't tell the story. To understand what Briggs has become, you have to go back to who he was: a talented kid who wasn't allowed to play, sitting on the bench, wondering if any of it was worth it.

26 games started | HBCUAC Tournament MVP

The 2025–26 season did not begin the way Briggs — or anyone who had seen him play — might have expected. Early in the year, he struggled to find a consistent rhythm, shooting 0-for-6 from the field and 0-for-4 from three in a loss to Xavier and recording zero points. Against Philander Smith in December, he went scoreless again in just 17 minutes. The whispers started.

It's the kind of chatter that can unravel a player who has any doubt about himself. But Briggs had been through something harder — much harder — than a rough stretch of games. He'd already survived a redshirt year that tested everything he had.

Briggs drives to the hoop in the semifinal game against Philander Smith.

When Briggs arrived at SUNO, head coach James A. Matthews, III immediately recognized his talent and envisioned him as a future point guard for the program. Having played guard himself, Matthews saw the talent, but he also saw the need for Briggs to develop more. Briggs was redshirted for the 2023–24 season, a move that caused friction at first, let him know what he needed to work on.

"Donte was talented enough to play — nobody in our program questioned that. But talent and readiness aren't always the same thing," said Matthews. "I told him, 'This year is going to feel like a punishment, but I promise you it's an investment.' What I needed to see was whether he'd trust me enough to make that investment. He did, and that told me everything about his character."

That experience of sitting, watching, and waiting became the foundation of everything Briggs has done since. He absorbed the game from the bench, studied the players in front of him, and never let frustration become an excuse. When coaches gave him a handful of games to appear in, he had already stopped playing recreationally out of frustration — then sprinted back to the gym the moment the door opened. He never made that mistake again.

That mindset carried him into the 2024–25 season, where he was named HBCU Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year — a validation of every early morning, every after-hours workout, every moment of uncertainty he refused to let win. He shot 40 percent from the field and found his shooting confidence in a standout performance against Talladega. The process had worked.

"The thing about Donte that people on the outside don't see is that he carries this team emotionally," said Matthews. "When we were losing, he never pointed fingers. He came in the next day with the same energy, the same smile. You can't coach that. I've been around a lot of players, and the ones who can hold a locker room together during hard times — those are rare."

Which is why, when Briggs started slowly this season, he didn't panic. He'd heard silence before. He'd heard doubt before. He understood, in a way few players his age do, that the journey is not linear.

"There were people questioning him, and honestly, I understood it from the outside looking in. But I never lost confidence in Donte for a second," Matthews explained. "I've seen what this young man is made of. I knew when he locked in, it was going to be hard to stop him. My job was just to keep reminding him of what I already knew — that he's a problem when his mind is in the right place."

The second half of the season told a completely different story. From February onward, Briggs was one of the most dangerous point guards in the conference. He posted 16 points against Morris on 6-of-8 shooting with three triples on February 19. He had 17 against Stillman, 16 against Philander Smith on 4-of-7 from three, and 16 more to close the regular season against Tougaloo. His teammates and coaches had a saying that had become almost inevitable: if Donte has a good game, we will most likely win.

By tournament time, Briggs was playing the best basketball of his young career. He delivered when the lights were brightest, earning Tournament MVP honors and cementing his place as the unquestioned leader of this SUNO squad.

What separates Briggs from other talented guards is the weight he carries with a smile. Being a point guard, as he will tell you, means absorbing every loss, lifting every teammate, and sacrificing your own comfort so that others can thrive. Early this season, when his shot wasn't falling and the team's record wasn't where anyone wanted it, Briggs kept smiling — not as a performance, but as a philosophy.

He came from winning environments — a state championship-winning McMain High School program, competitive AAU circuits — and had to rediscover how to win at the college level after a tough start at SUNO. He found the answer not in individual brilliance, but in the small things: being early to everything, running every drill at full effort, hanging out with his teammates off the court until the chemistry that was always there between them finally found the hardwood.

That leadership, invisible in box scores but unmistakable to anyone watching closely, is what makes Briggs's story resonate beyond the stat line. He didn't become Tournament MVP in spite of everything he went through — he became it because of everything he went through.

The following is an edited conversation with Donte Briggs reflecting on his journey from redshirt to HBCUAC Tournament MVP.

Q: You went from redshirting during the 2023–24 season to becoming Freshman of the Year in 2024–25 and now the HBCUAC Tournament MVP this season. When you look back at that redshirt year, how important was it for your development?

The redshirt year was a tough year for me because I definitely thought I was ready at the time. The coaches were impressed with my talent and they saw a future point guard in me. It was just unfortunate due to them having 6 people already in my position before the season started. But I couldn't be frustrated long. I learned from the people in front of me and worked on my game even when it felt like it was for nothing. I got used to the game speed at practice and even played 3 games, and in those 3 I knew what I needed to work on to be ready the next season.

Q: At what point did you realize the work you were putting in behind the scenes was starting to pay off?

My Freshman of the Year season was nothing but a blessing. I will always thank God for it. I would say the Talladega game when I hit a lot of threes — ever since that, that's when I found my confidence. I always knew I could shoot, but shooting 40% that year was the best thing because I worked so hard on my shot in the offseason.

Q: Were there times during that redshirt year when you had to push through the feeling that it wasn't worth it?

Yes. The funny part about it is that when they were 12 games in I still wanted to play. But when Coach James said no, I stopped hooping for a while because I felt like I was losing myself. Then I got a phone call and he said I can play only a few games, and I was happy but mad because I had stopped hooping. I got in the gym ASAP. I never made that mistake again — no matter if it feels like I'm doing it for nothing, you never know when your name will be called.

Q: People see the awards, but what are the unseen moments of growth that happened behind the scenes?

People don't know how frustrating and hard it is being a point guard. I got the blame for every loss, I had to sacrifice my happiness for my teammates so they could stay confident, and I had to be a vocal leader. I had one of the worst 3-point shooting seasons in my entire life and on top of that our record was not good. For me to grow I had to find peace in everything. I had to find my shot again, find when it's a good time to pass and when it's good to be selfish, and just play hard and demand attention offensively and defensively. Once I found it, our winning streak started. My coaches and teammates always say, 'If Donte has a good game, we will most likely win the game.'

Q: How has trusting the process helped not just you individually, but also the team?

All my life I have been a part of a winning program — from high school, AAU, it doesn't matter. But I took a lot of losses early on at SUNO. I had to find out how to win again. It was doing the small things right, like being early for everything, doing all the drills at 100% no matter how basic it is, and just having fun with it and not taking it more serious than it's supposed to be. I smile all the time — literally — whether facing adversity or on the winning side. Plus our team hangs out together all the time. Our chemistry was always going to be there off the court; we just had to find it on the court.

Q: What would you tell younger players going through a similar situation — maybe not playing right away?

Redshirting might be the hardest thing because you never know if your coach is going to recruit on top of you next year or might not even want you. But it's actually a blessing in disguise. By just practicing and watching the game I felt like I saw things that other people didn't see. Coach James talked to me a lot during the process, so it kept me engaged. The more work you put in while redshirting, the game is going to be so much easier when you play it. It's easy to quit or fall apart or let days go by when redshirting — but imagine if you been working out with the team, working out by yourself, watching your teammates and opponents play. Once you get out there, it's like you're already ahead, plus you have another year to play. It's literally a blessing.

Donte Briggs is twenty years old, and he is already a lesson in what basketball — and life — actually demands of the people who want to be great. Not the talent, which he has. Not the opportunity, which came eventually. But the willingness to keep showing up for something that isn't giving anything back yet.

Tournament MVP. Freshman of the Year. Twenty-six straight starts. But perhaps the most telling number is the one nobody put in a box score: the number of times he got in the gym during a redshirt year when quitting would have been the easiest thing in the world.

Briggs (center) receives his tournament MVP trophy, presented by Hope Credit Union Senior Vice President, Economic and Community Development L.J. Molden (l) and HBCUAC Commissioner Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes (r).

"That MVP belongs to everything Donte went through before he ever stepped on that tournament floor," said Matthews. "The redshirt year, the slow start, the noise — he could have let any of that break him. He didn't. I'm proud of the player he's become, but I'm even more proud of the young man he's become. He's going to be special for us for a long time."

He never stopped. He never let the silence turn into doubt. He trusted his coach. He trusted the process. And now, wearing a tournament MVP trophy, he is proof that the process works — if you do.