Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association

PVIL Milestones

Nov. 1920 – As a result of a meeting between members of the Colored Teachers Association and L.W. Rogers, first assistant state superintendent of education,the Texas Interscholastic League of Colored Schools (TILCS) is organized to form a league to govern athletic and academic competition for Black high schools. The league is comprised of 40 schools.

Apr. 1921 – First TILCS track and academic state competitions held at Prairie View A&M College.

1923 – The TILCS comes under the authority of Prairie View A&M College, thereby becoming the PVIL.

Apr. 1927 – League membership increased to more than 300 schools supervised by W.R. Banks, Prairie View principal.

Oct. 29, 1927 – Houston Yates and Houston Wheatley meet for the first time with Yates winning, 19-6.

Nov. 28, 1935 – Yates and Wheatley meet for the first time on Thanksgiving Day before 6,000 fans. Yates wins, 20-14.

1937 – The Lone Star Interscholastic and Athletic Coaches Association was formed at Bishop College in Marshall.

Spring, 1939 – The PVIL was formally divided into four districts statewide and, for the first time, state champions would be determined by a playoff system. The classification (AA, A and B) for each school would be determined on the basis of school enrollment size.

Fall, 1939 – Yates wins the last mythical state championship, beating Dallas Lincoln, 13-6.

Dec. 25, 1939 – The Chocolate Bowl Classic is held at Houston's Buffalo Stadium. The Texas state champion, Temple Dunbar, meets Bogalusa, the Louisiana Black state champion.

Mar. 2, 1940 – Yates beats Houston Wheatley, 33-19, for the first PVIL basketball state title.

Apr. 13, 1940 – Dallas Lincoln wins the first PVIL track and field state title at Prairie View.

Dec. 24, 1940 – Fort Worth Terrell, coached by Marion "Bull" Bates, wins the first PVIL state title in football by defeating Austin Anderson, 26-0.

Dec. 1951 – San Francisco University's Ollie Matson, a Yates grad, becomes the first Black Texan to receive votes for the Heisman Trophy, finishing ninth with 95 votes.

1955 – Charlie "Choo Choo" Brackins (Dallas Lincoln and Prairie View) becomes the first Black quarterback drafted into the NFL when he's taken in the 16th round of the 1955 draft by the Green Bay Packers.

1955 – Houston Wheatley won its sixth straight basketball state championship.

1956 – Yates wins the first PVIL state championship in baseball.

Jun. 30, 1961 – The first PVIL-sponsored East-West Al-Star football game is held in Beaumont.

Nov. 23, 1961 – Yates defeats Houston Wheatley, 21-15, before 40,000 fans in the teams' annual Thanksgiving Day game.

1964 – The Texas African American Coaches Association, forerunner of the PVILCA, is created with Don Grace as executive director.

1965 – The University Interscholastic League Legislative Council votes to remove the stipulation that its member schools must be "White," paving the way for a merger with the PVIL.

Fall, 1966 – San Antonio Wheatley becomes the first former PVIL school to play football in the UIL.

Apr. 30, 1966 – An overflow crowd of more than 7,000 fans watch Reginald Robinson of Wichita Falls Washington run a wind-aided 9.1 100-yard dash at the PVIL state track meet at Prairie View.

1967 – The UIL integrates, allowing Black public schools to compete against their White counterparts for district honors.

Spring, 1967 – Five former PVIL players are chosen as the first draft picks for five NFL teams. Ironically, this was the same year that the PVIL would not have a football season for the first time in 27 years. The players drafted were:

• Bubba Smith (Beaumont Charlton-Pollard, Michigan State), chosen as the No. 1 overall choice in the draft by the Baltimore Colts.
• Mel Farr (Beaumont Hebert, UCLA) chosen No. 7 overall by the Detroit Lions.
• Gene Washington (Baytown Carver, Michigan State) chosen by the Minnesota Vikings, No. 8 overall.
• Gene Upshaw (Robstown, Texas A&I), the 17th overall pick (Oakland Raiders).
• Willie Ellison (Lockhart Carver, Texas Southern), the 33rd overall pick (Round Two by the Los Angeles Rams, who did not have a first round pick).

Spring, 1967 – San Antonio Wheatley becomes the first former PVIL school to compete at the UIL state tract meet. Wheatley scored 44 points and finished 2nd to Odessa Ector's 54 points.

Jan. 30, 1968 – The first Black college quarterback to be drafted in the NFL's first round was Tennessee State's Eldridge Dickey who had played at Houston Washington. The Oakland Raiders took Dickey ahead of Alabama's Ken Stabler, Oakland's second round pick.

Mar. 8, 1968 – Lubbock Dunbar becomes the first All-Black team to play in the UIL state basketball tournament. Dunbar defeated Seguin, 89-72, in the semifinals, but lost in the title game to Richardson Lake Highlands, 51-49.

Mar. 10, 1968 – In its first year in the UIL state basketball tournament, former PVIL member Houston Wheatley beats Dallas Jefferson, 85-80, for the Class 4A state championship. It was Wheatley's 13th overall state basketball championship.

1968 – Quarterback Dwain Frazier (Houston Elmore), threw for 588 yards against Aldine Carver. His performance would remain a state record for 18 years.

1970 – The PVIL closes.

Dec. 1976 – Beaumont Hebert defeats Gainesville, 35-7 and becomes the first historically Black school to win a UIL 3A state championship.

Feb. 29, 1980 – A Roast and Toast Banquet was held in honor of coach Ben Young at Bill Howard's club in Waco.

Jul. 23, 1980 – The first hall of fame and hall of honor banquet is held in Houston.

July 1982 – Andrew "Pat" Patterson (Yates) becomes the first coach from the PVIL elected into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor.

Dec. 1985 – Yates defeats Odessa Permain, 37-0, to become the first historically Black high school to win the UIL Class 5A state championship in football.

Dec. 12, 2001 – UIL honors the PVIL in Austin.

2005 – The Texas African American Coaches Assn. becomes the PVILCA with Robert Brown assuming duties as the organization's board chairman.

May 9, 2005 – PVILCA meets with Prairie View A&M president, Dr. George Wright, to discuss full recognition of all PVIL records.

May 13, 2005 – PVILCA meets with UIL Athletic Direcotr Dr. Chalres Berithaupt and University of Texas VP Dr. James L. Hill to discuss full recognition of all PVIL records. Later, that year, the UIL begins recognizing PVIL state championship records alongside all UIL records.