Prairie View A&M Panthers | |||
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University | Prairie View A&M University | ||
Head coach | Byron Smith (8th season) | ||
Conference | SWAC | ||
Location | Prairie View, Texas | ||
Arena | William J. Nicks Building (Capacity: 6,500) | ||
Nickname | Panthers | ||
Colors | Purple and gold [1] | ||
Uniforms | |||
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NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | |||
1960*, 1961* | |||
NCAA tournament round of 32 | |||
1960*, 1961* | |||
NCAA tournament appearances | |||
1960*, 1961*, 1998, 2019 *at Division II level | |||
Conference tournament champions | |||
1998, 2019 | |||
Conference regular season champions | |||
1961, 1962, 2003, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
The Prairie View A&M Panthers basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). PVAMU won the 1962 NAIA Tournament.
The Prairie View A&M-Texas Southern basketball rivalry is the most anticipated and highest attended basketball series in the SWAC. The February 2018 match up at Prairie View A&M saw a home crowd of approximately 4,000 which was the largest for the season. [2]
The Panthers have appeared twice in the NCAA tournament. Their record is 0–2.
Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | #16 | First Round | #1 Kansas | L 52–110 |
2019 | #16 | First Four | #16 Farleigh-Dickinson | L 76–82 |
The Panthers appeared twice in the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. Their record was 2–2.
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Regional Semifinals Regional Finals | South Dakota State Cornell (IA) | W 78–65 L 79–93 |
1961 | Regional Semifinals Regional Finals | Wisconsin–Superior South Dakota State | W 79–68 L 84–88 |
The Panthers have appeared in one NAIA Tournament in which they were National Champions with a 5–0 record in 1962.
Year | Seed | Round | Opponent | Result |
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1962 | #2 | First Round Second Round Elite Eight National Semifinals National Championship | Ashland (OR) Morris Harvey Arizona State Western Illinois Westminster | W 73–64OT W 85–70 W 86–48 W 80–68 W 62–53 |
The Prairie View A&M Panthers have won the SWAC Tournament in 1998 and 2019. The team has made several championship game appearances.
Prairie View A&M has a professional basketball hall of famer in their ranks. Former Panther center Zelmo Beaty. Beaty, was selected to be inducted into the 2014 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class and the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class.
"Zelmo Beaty played for Coach John Payton at Woodville's Scott High School and won back to back Prairie View Interscholastic League 1A state championships in 1957 & 1958. From 1958-1962 at Prairie View A&M Beaty averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds per game and was a two-time first team NAIA All-American (1960 & 1962). The "Big Z" led Prairie View A&M to the NAIA national basketball title in 1962 and was named the Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP. He was picked third overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1962 NBA Draft. A 6'9" center who was known for his tough, hard-nosed play he averaged 17.4 points and 11.2 rebounds in 7 seasons (1962-1969) for the St. Louis Hawks. He made the NBA All-Rookie first team and 2 All-Star Games before switching to the rival ABA's Utah Stars in 1970. Beaty led the Stars to the 1971 ABA title while averaging 22.9 points and 15.7 rebounds, and was named MVP of the playoffs. In Utah he averaged 19.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and was 3-time All-Star in 4 seasons (1970-1974). He played his final NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975. Beaty scored 15,207 points and had 9,665 rebounds during his 12-season professional career. He was named to the ABA's 30-man all-time team in 1997 and was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame 2014. Beaty died on August 27, 2013." [3] [4]
Gus Johnson Jr. was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 235-pound (107 kg) forward–center, he spent nine seasons with the Baltimore Bullets, and his final season was split between the Phoenix Suns and the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association (ABA).
Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins was an American professional basketball player. A New York City playground legend, "the Hawk" was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
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Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke is an American basketball coach and former player who has won championships in college, in the Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is considered by many as one of the greatest female basketball players ever. In 2011, Cooper-Dyke was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Upon the league's formation, she played for the Houston Comets from 1997 to 2000, being named the Most Valuable Player of the WNBA Finals in all four seasons, and returned to play again in 2003. Cooper-Dyke still holds the record for most Finals MVPs with four. On April 30, 2019, she was introduced as the head coach for the Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team, a position she held in the 2012–13 season. She has also coached at USC, UNC Wilmington, Prairie View A&M, and, professionally, for the Phoenix Mercury. Cooper-Dyke was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Daniel Paul Issel is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty was an American basketball player. He played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and four in the rival American Basketball Association (ABA). A three-time ABA All-Star and two-time NBA All-Star, Beaty was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2016.
Louis Clyde Hudson was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player, who was an All-American at the University of Minnesota and a six-time NBA All-Star, scoring 17,940 total points in 13 NBA seasons.
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Tommie J. Patterson was an American professional basketball forward who played two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Baltimore/Capital Bullets (1972–74). He attended Ouachita Baptist University, leaving college after his freshman season to enroll in the US Army for three years, before returning to Ouchita Baptist. Patterson was selected by the Bullets in the second round of the 1972 NBA draft as the 25th overall selection.
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