Byron Smith enters his ninth year with the Prairie View A&M men's basketball program -- and fifth full season -- as head coach of Prairie View A&M men's basketball.
Since assuming the reins of the program, Smith has molded Panthers hoops into the preeminent power within the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Smith has guided Prairie View A&M to a pair of SWAC regular season championships (2018-19, 2019-20) and a SWAC Tournament title (2019).
The Panthers successfully defended their regular season crown during the 2019-20 season, posting a 19-13 (14-4 SWAC) record. Smith led PVAMU to out-of-conference wins over Central Arkansas and Texas-San Antonio and under his guidance, Devonte Patterson and Gerard Andrus earned First Team All-SWAC accolades and BOXTOROW All-America selections. Patterson also earned SWAC Player of the Year honors, and Smith was named SWAC Coach of the Year.
During the season the Panthers posted a perfect 12-0 mark in games played inside the Babydome, extending their home winning streak to 27 games. This mark currently stands as the second-longest active streak of its kind in the nation.
The 2018-19 campaign was a breakthrough for the Panthers basketball program, as Prairie View A&M posted one of the most dominant seasons of play by a SWAC team on its way to the conference's regular season and tournament titles. This is the first time in school history that a coach has won both of these titles.
Prairie View A&M went 22-13 -- the 22 wins were a single-season school record for victories since the program joined the Division I ranks -- and posted a sparkling 17-1 record in conference play. During the year, the Panthers picked up an out-of-conference win over Santa Clara and finished third in the country in turnovers forced per game (18.2) 10th in the country in steals per game (8.8). Patterson and Gary Blackston earned First Team All-SWAC honors, and Dennis Jones won SWAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. The season resulted in Smith's first SWAC Coach of the Year award and culminated in a tournament championship win over arch-rival Texas Southern and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2017, Smith led Prairie View A&M to a non-conference road win at defending Mountain West Champ Fresno State. The Panthers went to finished tied for third place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Elevated to the role of interim head coach in January of 2016, the Panthers quickly made the transition to Smith's style as they defeated conference rival and defending SWAC Champion Texas Southern for his first career win on Feb. 6. During the late season run in winning four of the final six regular season games, the Panthers won at Arkansas-Pine Bluff for the first time since 2005 and also won at Southern for the first time since 2010.
Under Smith, senior guard Jayrn Johnson flourished as he averaged 20.5 points over the final 11 games of the season. Johnson finished as PVAMU's scoring leader and was the team's top three-point shooter in addition to being named SWAC Player of the Week on two occasions in the month of February.
Under Smith, the William J. Nicks Building is again one of the toughest road venues in the SWAC. The Panthers are 14-4 at home in the Smith era.
During the 2014-15 campaign, Smith played a pivotal role in helping senior center Reggis Onwukamuche ascend to the top of the SWAC amongst post players as Onwukamuche was named the SWAC's Defensive Player of the Year while also earning a spot on the All-SWAC Second Team. Onwukamuche finished the regular season with 57 blocked shots (1.7 per game), ranked 10th in the SWAC with 5.3 rebounds and second with 2.4 offensive rebounds per game. As a result of his play, Onwukamuche received an opportunity to play professionally as he inked a contract with the Sheffield Sharks of the British Basketball League. In addition to Onwukamuche's play, junior post Karim York saw his role expand as he averaged a career-high 9.1 points per game along with 5.1 rebounds. York tripled his scoring average in 2014-15 and averaged nearly four times more rebounds than the previous season with the Panthers.
In his first season at Prairie View A&M, Smith helped the Panthers make history as they advanced to the championship round of the 2014 SWAC Tournament for the second consecutive season. Smith primarily worked with the team's post players and helped forward Demondre Chapman achieve career highs in scoring in rebounding.
Smith has experience in all levels of basketball across the globe. Prior to Prairie View A&M, Smith was an entrepreneur as he ran a business which consisted of him coaching high performance skills and fundamentals programs in the Houston area.
Collegiately, Smith spent one season (2009-10) at Texas Southern and helped the Tigers advance to the championship round of the SWAC Tournament for the first time since 2003. Before coming to TSU, Smith served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M and helped lead the Aggies to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in addition to securing a pair of nationally ranked recruiting classes.
Smith also served as the head coach of the highly-successful Houston Swoosh AAU program for three seasons. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Harlem Globetrotters in 2002-03.
In 2001-02, he served as an assistant coach at McClennan Community College in Waco, helping the team to the regional finals. In 2000-01, he was the interim head coach at Texas Southern. Smith was the director of basketball operations at his alma mater, the University of Houston, under Clyde Drexler from 1998-00.
Smith was a standout player at UH from 1989-91, twice earning All-Southwest Conference honors under Coach Pat Foster. Prior to that, he was an all-conference player at Tyler Junior College in 1988-89 and played at Northwestern State in 1987-88.
A native of Bossier City, La., Smith earned all-state honors as a senior at Airline High School after leading the state in scoring with a 30.6 average.
After graduating from UH in 1991, Smith played professional basketball overseas for six seasons, including four years in Australia. He also played in Turkey and Greece.
Smith has two children, Christopher and Kayla.
