By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
DAYTON, Ohio – When he was leading the state with a 30-point scoring average as an Airline High School senior almost 40 years ago, Byron Smith was known to get on a streak.
Now in his ninth full season as head coach at Prairie View A&M, he’s on another, and this time it’s reached the national stage.
Smith’s Panthers clamped down on Lehigh Wednesday night in a 67-55 NCAA Tournament First Four triumph at UD Arena.
Prairie View A&M (19-17) won its eighth straight, including a 72-66 victory as the SWAC’s eighth seed upsetting second-seeded Southern in the conference tournament final last Saturday.
That eight-game streak is better than anything the Panthers did all of last year, when they finished 5-27 on the heels of a 10-win season in 2023-24. Smith hit the transfer portal and lately, the team has come together at just the right time.
“Losing sucks,” Smith said. “Everything is better when you win, just life is better. Everybody would like to be Coach [Nick] Saban — seven, eight national championships and be No. 1 preseason and in the final poll every year — but that’s just not realistic. When you have seasons like we did the last two years, it really tests you as a coach and how much you really want to be doing this thing.”
Prairie View’s defense was decisive. The Panthers forced 16 turnovers, recorded 12 steals and blocked nine shots while limiting Lehigh’s leading scorer, Nasir Whitlock, to five points.
“Definitely gratifying,” said the 1987 Airline graduate. “A heck of a basketball game. We’re definitely excited to survive and advance and move on to the first round on Friday night.”
Prairie View, a 16-seed, advances to face No. 1 seed Florida in a first-round South region matchup Friday in Tampa.
As for the daunting challenge of meeting the Gators, and in their home state, Smith embraced it.
“They’ve got probably about four or five guys that are going to be playing on ESPN here in about nine months,” Smith said. “But in life, no test, no testimony, right? We’re going to be tested going into the game in Tampa, but we look forward to it.”
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