Prairie View A&M University Athletics

Dawn Brown was officially named Prairie View A&M’s head women’s basketball coach in April, 2014. Brown became the fifth head coach of the Lady Panthers since the program became an NCAA Division I member program in time for the 1981-82 season; she served her first year as the interim head coach in 2013-14.
 
Since taking the reins of the Lady Panthers, Brown has continued the program’s recent success. In 2014, she guided Prairie View A&M to its fourth consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship and fourth consecutive NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament appearance. In winning the 2014 SWAC tournament championship, the Lady Panthers became only the third program in league history to accomplish that feat.
 
The continued success of the Lady Panthers under Brown’s watch led to her being named the 2013-14 HBCU Digest Female Coach of the Year.
 
The Lady Panthers’ success continued in 2014-15, as Brown coached the team to its first-ever victories over area non-conference opponents Houston and Sam Houston State. The win over Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion on Dec. 7, 2014, was the Lady Panthers’ first win over the Cougars in 16 tries dating back to the 1975-76 season.
 
Brown has recruited and coached several talented players since first coming to Prairie View A&M in 2010 as an assistant coach. Under Brown’s guidance, Jeanette Jackson was named the SWAC’s Player of the Year as a senior in 2014-15 after finishing second in the conference in scoring with 16.7 points per game. In Brown’s first year as head coach, Jackson led the SWAC in scoring (18.8 points per game), was named to the All-SWAC First Team and earned SWAC Tournament MVP honors.
 
Brown also developed LaReahn Washington into a scoring threat as the senior guard had a career year in her lone season as a starter in 2013-14. Under Brown’s guidance Shamiya Brooks, a sophomore during Brown’s first season, has emerged as one of the top shot blockers in the SWAC.
 
Prior to becoming interim head coach, Brown served as the team’s assistant coach for three seasons along with adding the responsibilities of recruiting coordinator during the 2012-13 campaign.  Brown recruited 2012 SWAC All-Tournament center Larissa Scott, 2013 SWAC Tournament MVP Kiara Etienne and do-it-all forward JaQuandria Williams, who contributed heavily to the Lady Panthers’ SWAC Tournament Championships in 2012 and 2013.
 
In addition to the team’s individual accolades, the Lady Panthers had a pair of five-game winning streaks under Brown over the course of the 2013-14 campaign and had a two-month stretch in which the Lady Panthers recorded 10 victories in 11 games. In 2015, the Lady Panthers enjoyed a six-game winning streak, their longest streak under Brown. Since joining the Prairie View A&M women’s basketball program as an assistant coach in 2010, the Lady Panthers are a perfect 12-0 in the SWAC Tournament with Brown on the bench.
 
Before coaching at Prairie View A&M, Brown spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Tougaloo College. At Tougaloo, Brown played a major part in turning the program around as the Lady Bulldogs finished the 2009-10 season with their best record in 12 years and advanced to the semifinal round of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
A 2005 graduate of Jackson State University, she had a two-year career as a student-athlete with the Lady Tigers and helped lead the team to the the 2002-03 SWAC regular season co-championship and a SWAC Tournament semifinal berth.
 
Before her playing days at Jackson State, Brown a two-time captain at Atlanta Metropolitan College, led the team to two consecutive GJCAA Tournament appearances. She was a part of the inaugural team in 2000.
 
Brown knows the demands of a Division I student-athlete, as she also excelled in the classroom earning her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2005.