Toyelle Wilson begins her third season as head coach of the Prairie View A&M women’s basketball team. In just two seasons Wilson has proven to be the most efficiently-successful coach in program history with two NCAA Tournament appearances in two seasons.
The Prairie View A&M women’s basketball team had been to the NCAA Tournament just twice in the 29 seasons of playing Division I basketball before Wilson took over, and both of those appearances came while Wilson was an assistant coach.
Entering the 2011-12 season with two returning letter winners from her 2011 SWAC Championship team, Wilson rallied her team together just in time to make a post-season run. The Panthers won their final six games against SWAC conference opponents, including three in the conference tournament en route to their second-consecutive SWAC Championship title and NCAA tournament appearance, finishing the season with a 17-16 record. Wilson proved to be at her best when everything is on the line as she is 6-0 coaching in SWAC Tournament games. Her overall record is 38-28.
At the age of 30, Wilson was youngest coach in the 2012 NCAA tournament as her teamed faced one of the most legendary coaches in Geno Aurema in the first round of the regional in Bridgeport Connecticut.
Two players earned 2012 SWAC post-season honors under Wilson’s watch. Junior Guard Latia Williams won the SWAC Tournament MVP award, which complemented her First Team All-SWAC selection. Junior guard Kiara Etienne earned SWAC Newcomer of the Year and was named to Second Team All-SWAC.
In her first season as head coach, Wilson made history as she led the Lady Panthers to their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and the 2011 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship. Prairie View A&M finished with an overall mark of 21-12 in Wilson's inaugural season which included a 14-4 record in SWAC play. Individually, three members earned All-SWAC honors under Wilson’s watch as seniors Robin Jones and Dominique Smith earned second team honors while freshman Siarra Soliz was named SWAC Tournament MVP and SWAC Freshman of the Year. Statistically, Wilson also made her presence felt defensively as Prairie View A&M finished seventh nationally amongst 333 NCAA Division I institutions in field goal percentage defense, three-point field goal percentage defense and 10th in scoring defense.
Prior to accepting the position of head coach, Wilson spent four seasons at Prairie View A&M as the top assistant under former head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. Wilson played a large role in Prairie View A&M’s success with four consecutive postseason appearances, three straight Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season titles, two NCAA Tournament and two Women's NIT berths. Off the court, Wilson was involved in all aspects of the program with special emphasis on recruiting, the development of the team’s perimeter players, scouting, film breakdown, game strategy and operations such as team travel.
No stranger to turnarounds, Wilson coached three seasons at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pa. and played an integral role in the program’s ascension during her tenure. In only her second season on staff, RMU finished 20-10 and performed the third-biggest turnaround in NCAA history among teams after one season play. In addition, it only marked the third time in program history that Robert Morris had tallied a 20-win season.
A native of Camden, N.J., Wilson holds a bachelor’s in business management from Manhattan College in 2003 and was a four-year letter winner on the court. As a freshman, Wilson started 18-of-29 games for the Lady Jaspers and capped off her career in 2002-03 by leading Manhattan to an NCAA Tournament berth and a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship with a 20-10 overall and 15-3 MAAC record. She also served as team captain during her stint and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Houston Area Coaches On Toyelle Wilson:
"She was obviously a part of four (postseason appearances) as an assistant and now she's gone to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments as the head coach. The camaraderie, chemistry and consistency go back to coach Wilson; she's been there for every single one of them. I really think if they continue on that path, which I have no doubt they will, the sky's the limit for them." -Todd Buchanan Houston Head Coach
"Right now, they're (Houston's) premier program. You have to give it up to them. Toyelle's doing a fantastic job." – Yolanda Wells-Broughton Former Texas Southern Coach
"I think six straight years (in the postseason) speaks volumes. How many programs can say that? I don't know if that's ever been done in the SWAC. There are a lot of programs that can't say six straight years." – Greg Williams Rice Coach
