TELLING THE PVIL STORY
Prairie View
Interscholastic League
Coaches Association
Remembering the Past With Pride
WELCOME!
This site celebrates the Prairie View Interscholastic League which existed from 1920 to 1970.
The PVIL was the governing body for academic, athletic, and music competitions for black high schools in Texas during the state's segregationist era. In its 50-year existence, the PVIL produced numerous outstanding coaches, athletes, students, and citizens. On these pages, you will find records, images, profiles of schools, coaches, players, and more. Despite the social mood of the era, during the PVIL's peak its 500 member schools — with all-black enrollments — had lively, exciting, and proud competitions which were as entertaining, passionate, and fierce as any in the land.
LEARN MORE
For 50 years, beginning in 1920, the Prairie View Interscholastic League governed academic, athletic, and band competitions for black high school students in Texas. Working with limited resources, the PVIL produced numerous outstanding students who became successful citizens, athletes, entertainers, and more, from U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (Houston Wheatley) to choreographer Debbie Allen (Houston Yates) to Pearl Harbor hero Doris Miller (Waco Moore) and six members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
LEARN MOREPVIL: The Video — award-winning photographer and documentary filmmaker Eli Reed's 15-minute clip on former football players at Central High School in Galveston, the first piece of a longer film on the PVIL.
HELP TELL THE STORY
We are collecting memories and memorabilia from PVIL schools.
The PVILCA and Board Chairman Robert Brown are documenting the PVIL's history, and you can help. Send your memories of attending a PVIL school to pvilca1940@yahoo.com.
We are also in need of paraphernalia for our exhibit. Anything you lend is carefully scanned or photographed and returned to you.
PRINT THE QUESTIONNAIRECANDIDATES
2026 Inductee Candidates
PVIL Coaches
- Leon A. Parker
- Lillian Thompson Parker
Meritorious Awards
- Mark Burns
- George Clark
- George "Pete" Henley
- James "Jimmy" Hollins
- Rob Lynch
- John McClain
- Johnny Sandles
PVILCA Coaches of the Year
- Willie Gaston — North Shore HS – 6A Division 1 Football
- Kiara Marshall — Summer Creek HS – 6A Division 1 Girls Basketball
- Claude Mathis — Desoto HS – 6A Division 2 Football
- LaJenna Howard — Lancaster HS – 6A Division 2 Girls Basketball
- Jason Todd Greer — South Oak Cliff HS – 5A Division 2 Football
- Ashley Greer — Dallas Lincoln HS – 4A Division 2 Girls Basketball
- Sam Richardson — Hitchcock HS – 3A Division 1 Girls Basketball
- Tremaine Jackson — Prairie View A&M - SWAC Football Champion
- Byron Smith — Prairie View A&M - SWAC Tournament Champion
PVIL-UIL Bridging the Gap
- Thomas Battle — Baseball
- Ray Brown — Football
- Byron Clay — Track
- Vilora Criswell Williams — Volleyball
- Warren Lee "Fluff" Fair — Football
- Robert Lee "Speedy" Gonzales — Track
- Walter Hanibal Jr.
- R.L. Harris Jr. — Football
- James Hooper Sr. — Football
- James S. Hunter Sr. — Football
- Mayland Lee Jackson — Football
- Darrel Wayne Johnson — Football
- Odell Johnson Jr. — Football
- Thomas Levine Jr. — Coach
- Roger Mayes — Football
- Deacon Theathur McKenzie — Football
- Heard Robinson Jr. — Football
- Joe Sigler — Coach
- Leon "Lump" Strauss
- Vince "Bird" Taylor — Football
- Elmo Wright — Football
Baseball
- Johnny Crockett
- Robert L. "Tip" Ward
Basketball
- William Chatman III
- Julius Cotton
- Lawrence Denmon
- Frank Fields
- John L. Handy
- Larry J. Johnson
- Thomas Melloncon
- Gloria Bean Pualani
- John L. "Red" Watkins
Cheerleader
- Delores Lee McNeil
Swimming
- Elizabeth Smith-Stanberry
Trainer
- Garfield Johnson Jr.
Track
- Charles Butler
- Alvin Dotson
- Derek Hanks
- Henry Henderson
Volleyball
- Rosie Alma Gilford
- Denise Reynolds
Football
- Margene Adkins
- Douglas King Aliniece
- Rayford Birks
- Louis Blount III
- Sammy Lee Clark
- Harold Lee Clewis
- David Dudley
- Jerry East Sr.
- Anthony J. Fullbright
- Curtis Gene Garrett
- Donald R. Harrell
- Pastor Alvester Jackson Sr.
- Stewart Walter Johnson Sr.
- Ollie Matson
- Clyde Phillips
- Lane Alfred "L.A." Prescott
- Ted Robertson
- Robert Ed Royston
- Ronnie Shanklin
- Lester Stevenson, Jr.
- Carl Williams
- Robert C. Williams
- Charles Wyatt