Washington Named Prairie View A.D.

Retaining Cooper-Dyke Top Priority

Fred Washington takes over as the permanent athletics director at Prairie View A&M after serving for 11 months as the interim. Washington replaced Charles McClelland when he left for a similar position at Texas Southern University. "I was originally going to continue as the interim athletics director until Aug. 31, 2009," Washington said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports. "After meeting with Dr. Wright (school president George Wright) I agreed to continue as the athletics director on a full-time basis and we don't have an end date on it.

"I've been really satisfied with the the coaching staff that we have and the commitment that we have from the university and from the Texas A & M system that we are a part of." Panthers athletics has achieved unprecedented success on Washington's watch. Head Coach Henry Frazier led Prairie View's football team to a 9-1 record in 2008, the school's finest season in 50 years.

In women's basketball Head Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has the Lady Panthers in first place in the SWAC and in position to capture their third consecutive league championship. In 2007, in just her second year on the job, Cooper-Dyke led the Lady Panthers to their first winning season in school history, a share of the conference title, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

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