PRAIRIE VIEW – Tai Dillard has built an impressive college basketball resume by any standards.
The Texas native played at the University of Texas, spent three seasons playing in the WNBA and has built a spectacular career as an assistant women’s college basketball coach since 2013.
All that was missing from her list of achievements was head coach.
That changed this week when Prairie View and Athletic Director Anton Goff announced Dillard as the ninth head coach of the Panthers’ women’s program. She was formally introduced on May 2.
“I truly feel this is an opportunity sent from God. I’ve always wanted to coach at an HBCU,” Dillard said to the Defender. “My parents are products of HBCUs. I got my master’s at an HBCU (Texas Southern). I really appreciate the love and support that HBCUs show their students and their families and so when the opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t hesitate.”
A long-time assistant at the University of Houston, the Prairie View opportunity was perfect because of its potential and because she wouldn’t have to uproot her family completely from Houston for her next job.
For Goff, who had conducted a nationwide search for a new women’s basketball coach, this was an opportunity to hire a rising star who was literally sitting available in his backyard. Many of Goff’s contacts told him, as much while he was doing his due diligence.
“She was on my list from Day 1, but when I kept hearing her name from other people, I realized I really needed to do a deeper dive into Coach Dillard,” Goff said. “Knowing her background and her success, I was very impressed.”
Dillard had been with UH since 2016, starting as the recruiting coordinator before being elevated to associate head coach in 2022. She also had assistant coaching stints at USC, UTSA and Ole Miss.
In addition to her time as a coach, Dillard also made her mark on the court, playing for the Longhorns from 1999 to 2003 and then the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars from 2003 to 2005. Landing Dillard is perhaps the biggest name hire for the Lady Panthers since Basketball Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper led the program from 2005-2010.
“I wasn’t sure I could actually land her. I felt like this might be a stretch,” Goff said. “I know she has other opportunities out there, so I really wanted to sell what PV was about, where PV is going and what I thought she could bring to PV.
“As we continued to talk about that and we finally got her on campus and sat down and talked about what the program here at PV could look like under her leadership. Our values aligned, her vision for where the program is right now and where it can go under her leadership, I felt was really good.”
Dillard said he is excited to get to work and start building her program.
“Not only was it close to Houston, it was a great opportunity,” said Dillard, who lives in Houston with her husband and son. “I think it’s a place where I can do some amazing things here and I’m just looking forward to taking his program to the next level.”
