Lourdes’ Luciana Picasso is the Miami-Dade Girls’ Scholar-Athlete of the Year
During her four years on the basketball court, there was little that Luciana Alessia Picasso couldn’t accomplish.
A four-year starter and double-digit scorer and rebounder, Picasso led the Bobcats to the playoffs multiple times. She scored more than 1,000 points for her career.
But the scores she was earning away from the hoops meant even more to her.
“For me, academics comes before sports,” Picasso said. “Obviously, basketball recognition is great, but definitely this one stands out for the hard work off the court.”
That balanced success got Picasso to where she is today as she prepares to head to the University of Florida on an academic scholarship.
For her academic and athletic accomplishments during a stellar career, Picasso is also the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade Girls’ Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Picasso, a 6-foot forward, averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds this past season while earning her third consecutive All-Dade first team selection in basketball.
She will graduate from Lourdes with a 5.09 weighted and 3.95 unweighted grade point average. Picasso also scored 1330 on the SAT.
Along the way, Picasso became a member of the National, English, Math, Spanish and Social Studies Honor Societies while becoming class president each of her final three years of high school. She was the president of the Spanish National Honor Society, an AP Scholar with honors, National Hispanic Recognition Award recipient and University of Virginia Jefferson Book Award recipient.
Picasso might play club basketball while at UF, but for now her main focus heading to Gainesville is to study business and potentially go to law school after that.
Picasso said her AP Government class, one of 11 AP courses she took in high school, piqued her interest in the latter.
“The work ethic that comes with basketball has always translated to hard work off the field,” Picasso said. “I wanted to prioritize academics, and UF could do that for me. I still want to play basketball, and I know I can train with them. Let’s see how that goes.”