Kylee Owens spent four seasons building her own name at Prairie View A&M, long before her father, NFL legend Terrell Owens, returned to the HBCU campus with a gift for the volleyball program.
Sneakers for All
The Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver recently surprised the Prairie View A&M volleyball team with new footwear following its home opener. The university’s volleyball social media account thanked Owens for “blessing” the team with the new shoes.
For the Owens family, the gesture carried a connection that went beyond the gift itself. Kylee Owens has spent her college career at Prairie View A&M, emerging as one of the program’s accomplished players.
The 5-foot-9 outside hitter from Culver City, California, made an immediate impact upon arriving at Prairie View in 2022. The Southwestern Athletic Conference named her SWAC Freshman of the Year following her breakout debut season.
Two years later, she reached another level.
Owens was named the 2024 SWAC Volleyball Player of the Year and earned first-team All-SWAC honors. She finished that season with 355 kills, 318 digs and 47 service aces, according to Prairie View A&M. She also reached 1,000 career kills during the season.
Her accolades extended well beyond the conference. The American Volleyball Coaches Association named Kylee Owens an AVCA Southwest All-Region Honorable Mention selection before awarding her AVCA Division I All-America Honorable Mention recognition.
Her career at Prairie View continued into the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The university’s current roster lists Owens as a graduate student and again identifies her as an outside hitter.
Long before cheering on his daughter at Prairie View, Terrell Owens established a legendary NFL career that carried him directly to Canton. The six-time Pro Bowler and five-time First-Team All-Pro retired with 15,934 receiving yards and 153 touchdown catches, securing his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
His connection to athletics, however, extends beyond football.
Owens has also moved into the footwear business through a partnership with Syntilay, a company that uses artificial intelligence, foot scanning and 3D printing to produce footwear. The company currently lists the TO RESET, a recovery shoe developed with Owens, for $189. Syntilay describes the product as a pickleball recovery shoe designed around individualized foot scans and 3D-printed construction.
The footwear given to Prairie View’s volleyball team adds another layer to that venture, bringing Owens’ work in performance footwear into the HBCU athletic program where his daughter established her collegiate career.
The gift arrives as Prairie View advances through its 2026 volleyball campaign. After opening the year with non-conference play, the Lady Panthers returned home to host Lamar on Sept. 15 before tipping off SWAC conference action.
For Kylee Owens, the Prairie View connection is about more than her father’s NFL résumé.
Her career has included conference awards, individual milestones and national recognition. Prairie View’s record of her 2024 season shows the level of production she reached while wearing the Panthers uniform.
Now, her father has added his own contribution to the program.
The result is a moment that brings together two very different athletic careers: a Hall of Fame football career and a decorated volleyball career at an HBCU.
Terrell Owens made his mark on the football field. Kylee Owens has been making hers on the volleyball court at Prairie View A&M.
