A change in the schedule brought Birmingham Southern Athletic Director Joe Dean Jr. and basketball coach Duane Reboul to Selma Tuesday night for the Quarterback Club’s banquet.

The duo have overseen the Panthers change from NAIA to an NCAA school.

The basketball coach expressed how much his friend and Selma native Larry Striplin influenced the move.

Not only have the little Panthers played against some tough teams in all sports, they’ve beaten several big name schools.

The Panthers had been a winning program before, Reboul has a pair of NAIA National Championships. Now

they will get a chance to compete for a spot in the NCAA Tournament as well as the Big South tournament.

Dean was instrumental in that move.

Reboul credited his boss with helping the Panthers get into the Big South Conference.

In a short time, the Panthers have become a prominent player in Big South basketball.

UAB’s Watson Brown and Mike Anderson will be the Club’s guests in two weeks.