NFL great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens delivered a season-opening surprise to the Prairie View A&M volleyball team, gifting the Lady Panthers new footwear following their HBCU volleyball home opener.
Prairie View A&M shared the moment on its volleyball social media account, thanking the NFL legend for “blessing” the team with the new shoes. But Owens’ connection to the program runs much deeper than a celebrity appearance or promotional drop.
His daughter, Kylee Owens, is one of the most decorated players in Prairie View A&M volleyball history.
Terrell Owens supports daughter’s HBCU program
Kylee Owens arrived at Prairie View A&M from Culver City, California, and quickly began building a name beyond her famous last name.
The 5-foot-9 outside hitter earned SWAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2022 before developing into one of the conference’s most productive players.
By 2024, Owens had become the SWAC Volleyball Player of the Year and a First-Team All-SWAC selection. She recorded 355 kills, 318 digs, and 47 service aces during the season. Helping her earn AVCA Southwest All-Region honorable mention recognition—the first all-region honor in program history.
She then received AVCA Division I All-America honorable mention recognition, placing her among a select group of players honored nationally.
The award made Owens much more than the daughter of an NFL icon. It established her as one of the top athletes in HBCU volleyball.
Her Prairie View A&M career continued to grow from there. Owens surpassed 1,500 career kills, earned another First-Team All-SWAC selection, and helped the Lady Panthers capture a SWAC regular-season championship.
That history gives Terrell Owens’ gift added meaning. He was not simply dropping into an HBCU gym for a photo opportunity. He is supporting the program where his daughter spent years creating an athletic legacy of her own.
The shoes connect football, volleyball and Owens’ latest venture
The footwear also connects with Owens’ growing work in the performance and recovery space.
Owens recently partnered with footwear technology company Syntilay to create the TO RESET. A custom 3D-printed recovery shoe developed with court athletes in mind.
Although designed around the demands of pickleball, the recovery concept has a natural connection to volleyball players who repeatedly jump, land, and move laterally during practices and matches.
The TO RESET is not a traditional volleyball game shoe. It is recovery footwear designed for wear after competition. Using a digital scan of each wearer’s foot and AI-assisted technology to create a customized fit.
Syntilay says its scanning process captures more than 5,000 data points before the shoes are produced through on-demand 3D printing. The company lists the TO RESET at $189 and describes it as combining advanced scanning, AI-driven design, and 3D-printed comfort.
Its lattice construction is designed to provide support while remaining breathable, washable, and flexible.
Owens has also expanded his reach in apparel through Prototype 81. A brand named after the jersey number he made famous during his NFL career, along with his involvement in the growing court-sports apparel industry.
The Prairie View A&M gift brought several parts of Owens’ current story together: his expanding footwear business, his support for an HBCU athletic program and his role as the father of one of that program’s biggest stars.
Kylee Owens created her own legacy
Terrell Owens built a Hall of Fame career as one of the most productive wide receivers in NFL history.
The six-time Pro Bowler and five-time First-Team All-Pro finished with 15,934 receiving yards and 153 touchdown catches before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Athletic success has continued into the next generation. His son, Terique Owens, pursued an NFL opportunity as a wide receiver, while Kylee carved out a different path on the volleyball court at Prairie View A&M.
The latest gesture placed the Hall of Famer back in the spotlight, but it also reflected the foundation Kylee Owens has built at the HBCU.
What began as a famous football father supporting his daughter has grown into a family connection with one of the SWAC’s rising volleyball programs.
For Prairie View A&M, the new shoes were a memorable way to begin the home schedule. For the Owens family, they represented another intersection between a Hall of Fame legacy and an HBCU star who has created one of her own.