Prairie View A&M: What Coach Smith, Horne & Wells Said After Historic NCAA Tournament Victory

HOUSTON - Prairie View A&M made history in Dayton by defeating Lehigh, 67-55, in an NCAA Tournament First Four game. The victory marked the Panthers basketball program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win since the field expanded to 68 teams.

After Prairie View A&M's historic NCAA Tournament win over Lehigh, it is worth recalling that Coach Smith previously brought the Panthers to the Big Dance in 2019. That year, despite an early 11-point lead, the Panthers fell to Fairleigh Dickinson, 76-72. Now, with the MEAC champions from Howard and the SWAC champions from Prairie View both advancing, HBCU teams continue a trend of First Four victories.

This trend of HBCU success is reflected in NCAA-reported victories: Alabama State (2025), Grambling State (2024), Texas Southern (2022, 2021, and 2018), Norfolk State (2021), Hampton (2015), and North Carolina A&T (2013). Under the old Opening Round format, Florida A&M won in 2004, and Alcorn State posted two wins in 1983 and ‘94.

Building on these successes, Prairie View A&M, Howard, and Tennessee State are dispelling negative preconceptions about HBCU basketball. They are the first teams in over 30 years to reach the NCAA Tournament's first round. Moreover, coaches and players have shown professionalism throughout conference tournaments and First Four games.

As a result, the HBCU sports community can take pride in the Panthers, Bison, and Tigers, who now prepare for high-profile matchups against No. 1 seeds from Florida and Michigan, as well as a No. 2 seed in Iowa State.

Prairie View A&M: What Coach Smith, Horne, & Wells Said After Historic Win vs. Lehigh | HBCU Legends

Prairie View A&M Postgame Press Conference Notes

2026 NCAA Men’s First Four | Panthers def. Lehigh, 67–55 | Coach Byron Smith, Dontae Horne, and Cory Wells

MODERATOR: Historic night as Prairie View A&M picks up its first NCAA tournament win, as the Panthers are victorious tonight 67–55. We are joined by head coach Byron Smith, Dontae Horne— who had 25 points, seven rebounds, four steals — and Cory Wells, who had a double-double tonight: 19 points, 11 rebounds.

For our members in the media, just a reminder, if you could please state your name and your affiliation before every question, we greatly appreciate it. Before we talk to our student athletes, Coach — congratulations. An opening statement on the historic win.

COACH BYRON SMITH: Appreciate everybody being here. Super excited. Big win for us. Like you say, the first time PV’s gotten a win in the NCAA tournament, so definitely gratifying. Heck of a basketball game. I think the fans that tuned in tonight were definitely entertained. So we’re excited, and we’re surviving and advancing and moving on to the first round on Friday night.

MODERATOR: The Panthers will take on Florida on Friday at 9:25 in Tampa. At this time, we open up the floor. Questions for our student athletes.

Q (Dr. Kenyatta Cavil, Dr. Cavil’s Inside the HBCU Sports Lab): The way you closed the season — the tournament run in terms of the SWAC tournament and now the NCAA First Four victory — talk a little bit about how things came together to complete the run you’re on now.

DONTAE HORNE: Like I stated in other interviews, we came out with a defensive mindset and we’ve just been riding and training ever since.

CORY WELLS: Definitely. We knew we had the talent the whole time. It was about putting it together and peaking at the right time. You want to be playing your best ball in March. You don’t want to be playing your best ball early in the season and fall off. We did that.

Q (TJ Thompson, Flyer News): You guys were terrorizing their bigs all night. You finished with 12 steals as a team. Was that something you knew going in that you could take advantage of against Lehigh?

CORY WELLS: We knew we had the quickness and athleticism to be able to stunt and double. They had a little size advantage, so we tried to play the game. They were crabbing a lot, so we threw two at them and tried to fly around after that just to disrupt them.

DONTAE HORNE: Same thing he said. We were just trying to disrupt them. We knew we had the quickness and athleticism. We were just digging in and helping out, because he was undersized. We just had to help.

Q (Adam Wittenberg, ESPN): What went into the defense on Whitlock? He really struggled all night — I don’t think he had a field goal in the first half.

DONTAE HORNE: We have to shout out Lance Williams, our pit bull. He came in — Lance doesn’t worry about stats, he doesn’t care about scoring. He just comes in and does his job. And he did his job tonight. How many points did he have? Like three? Five? He’s averaging 21, so that says a lot about Lance’s defense.

CORY WELLS: Definitely. Lance is the engine that makes us run — him and Cory Dunning defensively. We go as they go. He came out, set the tone, and we followed his lead.

Q (Michael Preston, ): Last April, did you watch Florida win the national championship, and at that moment, in your wildest dreams, could you imagine that one year later you’d be getting ready to play them in the NCAA tournament?

CORY WELLS: Not at all, I’ll be honest with you. As basketball players, you watch every NCAA tournament, and just to think that you’re here now and you’ll be playing a team who just won last year — it’s in the back of your mind, but we’re going to go out there and compete regardless.

DONTAE HORNE: Same. I would never have thought I’d be playing Florida. I would never have thought I’d be in March. But hey, we’re here now, so let’s keep going.

Q (Adam Wittenberg, ESPN): Dontae, Coach mentioned yesterday how he almost had to recruit you to take you. If you think about where you were a year ago and where you are now, what does this mean to you? What’s changed in your life?

DONTAE HORNE: This means a lot. Coming into the summer when I was in the portal, a lot of people fell out because of my credits and grades. So I was kind of down and depressed. But being able to have a school that kept faith in me — it means a lot, because if they didn’t have faith in me, I wouldn’t be the player I am right now, and I wouldn’t be here today.

[Student athletes exit. Questions open for Coach Smith.]

Q (Dr. Kenyatta Cavil, Dr. Cavil’s Inside the HBCU Sports Lab): Coach, you’ve been here before, literally. You weren’t able to get the victory then. Was there anything from the first time that you used this time around to be more prepared?

COACH SMITH: The first time we were here — 2019 — we got off to a great start. I think we were up by 11 at halftime. But we didn’t finish. So obviously, you always want to get off to a fast start, but the main thing was to finish. And I think we did that. We defended, we flew around, and we caused a lot of problems with our quickness and athleticism against Lehigh. Well-coached team — they’ve got good players, and it was no accident they were here. We really focused on the defensive side. We swarmed them, we swiped at the basketball, we took away their high-low action. Almost everything they wanted to do, we had an answer for it. And it paid off tonight.

Q (Gabriel Ward, Flyer News): This is the first time in 32 years that three HBCUs have made the tournament. You now join Howard and Tennessee State in the first round. What does this moment mean for HBCU basketball as a whole?

COACH SMITH: For any program, it means a lot when you can win in the NCAA tournament. But obviously, we are an HBCU. Just a proud moment. My biggest thing is I’ve been around the block — I’ve been in the tournament as a player, as an assistant coach, and now as a head coach. But for me to see these young men, the look on their face, the excitement — it’s kind of like a dream come true. Everybody grows up watching this tournament and wanting to be a part of it. I’m just glad I was able to be here with them and share this moment. It’s definitely a happy time at Prairie View.

Q (Michael Preston, ): When you’ve been around the block like you said, and you do something for the first time ever — how special is that extra layer?

COACH SMITH: It’s really special. It kind of reminds me of when I got married. That was the first time I did that, too. Didn’t work out too good. (laughter) But no, I’m just joking. It’s exciting. To move on to the first round — it’s exciting. And I just think for all young people, anything is possible with hard work, perseverance, and some thick skin. I tell our kids all the time: when you live right, do the right things, and become an everyday guy, good things are going to happen for you. Kids sometimes doubt themselves when they don’t have success right away — they kind of go south, they stop listening. We had some ups and downs in our regular season, but this group was very resilient. I’m so thankful they continued to listen. The buy-in starts with belief. If they believe in their coaches, the buy-in is a lot easier. They trusted us, they hung on to what we were preaching every day, and now in the final hours, it’s paying off.

Q (Adam Wittenberg, ESPN): Byron, you guys won five games last year. To make this rise, there are a lot of new players. What’s gone into this, and how gratifying is it to turn it around?

COACH SMITH: Losing sucks. At the end of the day, everything is just better when you win. I think everybody would like to be Coach Saban — seven, eight national championships, number one preseason and 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. I dug deep, prayed a lot. The support of my family has been really, really good. We put our heads down and went to work. We felt really good about the kids we brought in — they had a chip on their shoulder, the left-out group. When you bring in people who’ve been doubted, and they come together and work together, great things can happen. It’s definitely been some trying times here at Prairie View, but it looks like we’re on the other side of that now, and we’re thankful.

Q (Don Nelson, University of Dayton): Do you see yourself changing the game plan much from tonight since you were so successful, or is that something you’ll work out later?

COACH SMITH: We’re definitely going to have to tweak some things. They’ve got a 6’11" monster down in Gainesville by the name of Ruben Chinello, and they’ve got probably four or five guys who are going to be playing on TNT or ESPN in about eight or nine months. We’ve got to figure some things out. Todd Golden is one of the top young coaches in the country — well-respected, does a great job. But in life, no test, no testimony. We’re going to be tested going into Tampa. But we look forward to it.

Q (Michael Preston, ): As special as this moment is, how long do you get to savor it before you start thinking about what you’re up against?

COACH SMITH: (laughter) Did we just win again? That’s how quickly you have to move on. You’re already thinking about — what can we do against a machine like that? But we will show up and put our best foot forward. Obviously, I’m going to try to enjoy it tonight with our players. Our AD Anton Golf is here — it makes me feel special when your boss walks in with you. I’m excited he’s here. But we’re going to go in and do the very best we can and just try to keep this thing moving.

MODERATOR: Eight straight for the Panthers. Nine of the last 10 SWAC champions. A historic night as they earned their first victory in March Madness. Coach, congratulations, and all the best. Safe travels.