and Louie Dampier, were small, quick and athletic. MINERS WIN, 72-65. Coach Haskins, I loved him very much. Whether it happened or not, five One of the reasons were still talking about it is something Pat Riley said one time, Lattin said. Texas Western was beaten 74-72 at Seattle, Kentucky 69-62 at Tennessee. Texas Western and Kentucky are the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the nation. meeting in an interview for the oral-history project at Texas Western, now and a great villain must meet. On Saturday night, Dec. 18, 1965, the same two teams met again in Memorial Gym in front of 4,601 fans and a Miner team with Hill proved to be a very different team. "Isay it with love becauseyou couldn't tell the 12th person from the No. "We didn't see Black and white. Bobby Joe Hill, the Miner point guard, picked up three fouls early and had to sit for 13 minutes in the first half. The team was eventually inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame. Your email address will not be published. On the other side of the track sat another goal. Watch the 1966 NCAA Championship game now and you'll "(Rupp) jumped up and called timeout, (and) as they were coming off the Rupp crossed paths at a sports banquet in Ohio, the younger coach nearly The Miners shot 50.8 percent from the field and held the Aggies to just 34.1 percent. court, he confronted his two guards about the steals," recalled Eddie After the NBA and Prison, William Bedford Is Now Focusing on His New Life. "We played the most intelligent, the most boring, the most In 1966, American cultural and sporting mythology insisted at least one The Miners improved to 20-0 on the season and coach Don Haskins got his 100th career victory against only 25 losses. Lattin said it wasnt until the start of the following season, when Sports Illustrated wrote a lengthy article, that the racial makeup of the teams became a story. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Arizona State led 30-29 at the half but Texas Western went on a run to open the second half and led by eight points with 15 minutes to play. The team was immortalized in the 2006 film Glory Road. Worsley said he never felt any discrimination being Black in college. Maryland's Cole Field House. Brawl Erupts In Handshake Line After High School Baseball Game Over Broom Taunt, Former NBA Player Dante Exum Gets Body-Slammed And Dropped In Brawl During Euroleague Playoffs. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. The color of the players' skin wasn't even mentioned in newspaper articles that followed. The Miners advanced to play Kansas Saturday night, March 12, 1966, in the Midwest Regional finals. Its not really a book, its more like a pamphlet, Lattin said. The win boosted Texas Western to a spotless 4-0 record and handed Weber State its first defeat, dropping the Wildcats to 3-1. Sportswriters who had never seen Texas Western play until that weekend and According to longtime Kentucky assistant Harry Lancaster's autobiography, The 196566 Texas Western basketball team faced many issues due to racism. Star of the West. In an arena filled with white cheerleaders, referees, and officials, it seemed impossible that an all-black team just won the NCAA title. Basketball is long gone from Cole, which was built for boxing, became one of the most storied basketball arenas, and now is transitioning into a football indoor practice facility. Kentuckywas quick and hadn't had much trouble with teams throughout the season. "No one from Kentucky ever said anything racist. March 17, 2016 at 9:55 a.m. EDT. We werent ranked before the season started. Orsten Artis led the Miners with 18 points. 7 Related Question Answers Found. "You meet the same people going up you meet on the way back down," she told him. That just didn't happen in those days of college basketball. David Lattin and Nevil Shed had 14 points each. Willie Worsley led the Miners in scoring, hitting from the outside and finishing with 18 points. Black athletes, prevailing wisdom blacks at home. college sports took a great leap forward. Joseph Ray tried to move Haskins in the opposite direction. "Rod Hundley, the former West Virginia and Lakers star, had the funny It was one of those Southern states that had through the years enforced widespread segregation. Julia Worsley barked at her son when he told her Haskins wanted him to play at Texas Western. 1965: Miners beat Fresno State 75-73 in game 5. "And I guess there is a certain justice to that. Nevil Shed led the Miners on the boards with 14 and Harry Flournoy added 12 rebounds. David Lattin scored just one point in the first half but finished with 19 points to lead the Miners. sometimes embellishing his excuses with hints that Texas Western somehow had "That's how coach Haskinsfound out Black guys could really play.". 1966: TWC nips Pan American, stays unbeaten. Texas Western opened what would ultimately become the legendary 1965-66 basketball season by crushing Eastern New Mexico 89-38 on a Saturday night in Memorial Gym. Artis made seven-of-eight shots from the field and four-for-four from the free throw line. And three years before Rupp told reporters five Black players couldn't beat five white players, the Alabama National Guard forced Gov. Dan Koeck for The New York Times . I hate to hear him saying that. Orsten Artis became a detective sergeant in Gary, Ind., and Bobby Joe Hill Throughout the season, the Texas Western players faced racial discrimination and bullying. 1965: TWC takes 67-47 win over Pan American. Why? The crowd is white. Texas Western used its smothering defense, fierce rebounding and a balanced scoring attack to dismantle Iowa. High in the bleachers, Kentucky fans wave a A rematch between the two teams was played at 8 p.m. on Saturday, the following day, in Memorial Gym. Riley has one regret about that game, and it's not the loss. You can navigate days by using left and right arrows. He was one of them. In College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966, underdog Texas Western College defeats Kentucky, 72-65, in the NCAA men's college basketball finalthe first NCAA title for an all-Black starting. Hill made one more free throw in the closing seconds and Cincinnati's heave from past midcourt was not close. blacks. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. In "Glory Road," the 2006 Disney movie about Texas Western, Miners coach Don Haskins tells his team the day before the championship that he will play only blacks the next night to make a social. Texas Western appeared to be dead in the water with 14 minutes to play Saturday night, Feb. 12, 1966, trailing New Mexico by 20 points. This Day In 1966: Texas Western, featuring the first all-black starting lineup, beats Adolph Rupps Kentucky team to win NCAA title. The Miners nursed the lead, pulling ahead to stay when Hill converted The 1966 Texas Western basketball team now the University of Texas at El. And already on the team when Haskins arrived was Nolan Richardson, who went on tobecome the first Black coach at a major university in the south at Arkansas. TWC held for the last shot but Bobby Joe Hill was called for charging with seven seconds left. No longer would we be kept out of mainstream America.". That game has been sold out for weeks. A berth in the NCAA Final Four in College Park, Md., was at stake. NCAA officials, the referees, the coaches, the cheerleaders and almost all Bobby Joe Hill had 20 points and Orsten Artis added 18. The Miners held Tulsa to just 37.7 percent shooting from the field. Oklahoma City opened with a flurry but Texas Western finished with a flurry. It had been a goal of the National Association forthe Advancement of Colored People for decades. Willie Worsley and Willie Cager had eight pints each. Their tenacity paid off, and Texas Western won the game 72 65. Overview Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845 and became the 28th state. Riley had never heard of Texas Western, so he was shocked when the Wildcats lost. The game was played during an era of racial unrest and as the civil rights movement was gaining power. Three were from New York; two from El Paso; and two from Gary, Indiana. Willie Cager scored six of Texas Western's nine overtime points to lead the Miners past Cincinnati Friday night, March 11, 1966, in Lubbock. major network, and it was televised only on a tape-delayed basis in several 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, an all-white team. characterized the game as "one of the most wretched (stories) in the history Worsley is a jokester, whostill likes to talk about his glory days, when he won the high school city championship in New York City, which wasplayed in Madison Square Garden. They cruised on to take a 40-26 halftime lead. "Kentucky was a worn, haggard ball club when it faced Texas Westernbut that was no alibi, for Texas Western had come through a hard season, too. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. v. t. e. The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 - April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) in putting up armed resistance to the centralist government of Mexico. Who did the Texas Western Miners lose to Seattle or Tulsa? It turned out to be one of the greatest nights in the history of college sports. blacks would never beat his team, Texas Western center David Lattin had a TWC improved to 11-0 on the season, leaving the Miners and the University of Kentucky as the only two undefeated teams in the nation perhaps a bit foreshadowing. championship. consecutive steals from Kentucky's guards. In Glory Road, the 2006 Disney movie about Texas Western, Miners coach Don Haskins tells his team the day before the championship that he will play only blacks the next night to make a social statement. They never trailed again. For weeks Don Haskins had splitting headachesfrightful, bursting pains that seemed to cleave his brain. His mom told him he could go on one condition: He had to promise to let Cager and Shed take care of him if he got into any trouble. every Southern conference, even the SEC, had integrated basketball teams. The Miners led Seattle 34-30 at the half but moved out to a 15 point lead midway through the final half. During Black History Month, with the series 28 Black Stories in 28 days, USA TODAY Sports examines the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials face after the nations reckoning on race in 2020. Other Kentucky players shown are Tommy Kron (30) and Larry Conley (40). Nevada edged Creighton 97-96 in double overtime in the other semifinal game. Harry Flournoy had nine points, 11 rebounds and Orsten Artis also added nine points to help the Miner cause. Then he walked out of my room." As basketball lore has told a thousand times since, Texas Western did beat Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 NCAA championship. Miner coach Don Haskins substituted liberally and used 10 players in the game. Texas Western celebrated. Confederate flag as the Wildcats' five white players line up for the opening Orsten Artis led the Miners with 22 points. In 2006, Texas Western players watched a screening of Glory Road at the White House with President George W. Bush. But it was not enough for the Jayhawks. "It was quite clear after March 1966 that Southern basketball teams would Kentucky was all-white again. And four when behind", things changed Shed led the Miners in scoring with 17 points. Enter a date in the format M/D (e.g., 1/1), Texas Western defeats Kentucky in NCAA final, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/texas-western-defeats-kentucky-in-ncaa-finals, Elvis Presley puts a down payment on Graceland, Bodies found in Yosemite serial killer case. A member of Rupps top-ranked all-white team, Riley scored 19 points for Kentucky that night. The Miners made history by winning the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament, becoming the first team with an all-Black starting lineup to win an NCAA National Championship. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Miners beat Kentucky (an all-white program until 1969) 7265 in the historic championship game, played on Saturday, March 19, at Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C.[2][3][4]. The Miners, who had beaten Arizona State 84-67 earlier in the season in Tempe, improved their record to 19-0 with the win in Memorial Gym. Rupp's Runts, Trying to win a basketball game.". This was a landmark night and although the 1954 Brown vs Board of Education decision and Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed racial segregation in the public school system, it was still common to find all-white college sports teams, particularly in the South. Coach Haskins saved his life. David Lattin and Willie Worsley made free throws and Hill made a driving layup. Friends noted that even as he was dying with cancer in a Lexington hospital On March 19, 1966, fans packed Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland, to watch the matchup between Kentucky and Texas Western. Changing the day will navigate the page to that given day in history. Texas Western's five black starters didn't catch the eyes of the country until they went up against an all-white Adolph Rupp coached Kentucky team in the national championship. David Lattin had nine points, four rebounds before fouling out with still 9:33 left to play in the game. Rupp had only one black player on his rosters in his 41 years of coaching in Lexington. pic.twitter.com/QixgpCRVA7. Orsten Artis had 13 points and Harry Flournoy led all rebounders with 18. "Hell, he'd Haskins fumed at his counterpart's reaction. As Worsleystood in the airport in New York City to fly out to El Paso, he was nervous. The 1965-66 Texas Western Miners basketball team was headed by Hall of Fame head coach Don Haskins and represented Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The Miners again used their lockdown defense and rebounded with a fury, outrebounding Nevada 59-25. And those letters from the whites in the south, you can just imagine what they said. Willie Worsley had 14, Bobby Joe Hill 13 and Willie Cager 10 points to pace the Miners. The historic feat of Texas Western's win, five Black players and a white coach,and its tie toracial equity didn't immediately reverberatethroughout the country. The Miners led 40-33 at the half and their defense simply smothered the Sun Devils holding them to just 39.1 percent shooting from the floor and forcing 23 turnovers. Later that year, when he and Texas Western roared away to a 30-point halftime lead and cruised to a 93-56 victory over Loyola of New Orleans Wednesday night, Dec. 29, 1965, in the opening round of the Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament. Lattin remembers Haskins telling him so many times about that player. three came within a semester of their degrees and have not suffered because So who are these guys and where are they coming from and whats the reason they keep winning?. "(Lattin) said, `Take that you white honky,'" recalled Riley. Harry Flournoy had a huge game with 14 points, 14 rebounds. David Lattin led Texas Western to a comfortable 74-63 win over Weber State Tuesday night, Dec. 14, in front of 3,875 fans in Memorial Gym. Oklahoma City, which came into this game averaging 99.2 points per game, raced away to an 11-2 lead and led 20-9 with 13:33 left in the opening half. "I had been listening to all this damn crap out of him," said Haskins. That was about it. He was on the Duke freshman team, Lattin said. "One day, Haskinsinvited aBlack guy over to play with him," Lattin said Haskins told him. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so. He didnt treat African-American guys differently than white guys.. Cager scored in the lane, was fouled and made the free throw to put the Miners up 74-70 in overtime. It was what I had done all year.. The win accelerated the advancement of Black athletes in the South as well. The squad also had four Anglo-Americans (Jerry Armstrong, Louis Baudoin, Dick Meyers, and Togo Railey and one Mexican-American Dave Palacio). quintet can do more things with a basketball than a monkey on a 50-foot If basketball ever took a turn, that was it," said Nolan Richardson, the Arkansas coach 1965: TWC wins Mississippi Valley Classic. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Rupp, who retired in 1972 with a 876-190 record, won four national championships and one NIT title. It first signedCharlie Brown in 1956. He loved us.". He treated us all poor. How about that? JoJo White rushed down the floor and heaved one up from the left side as time ran out. Im sure there was a racial component in peoples minds (entering the game) that Kentucky would be this smart, really sophisticated team and run good offense, and Texas Western would run up and down the court. I didnt say I dislike these guys. March Madness fans will remember the 2020 tournament as the competition that never happened. stupid sons of bitches!' Hill led the Miners with 22 points, followed by Lattin with 15 points and 17 rebounds. "No one will remember him without remembering us," said Texas Western's There was no all-tournament team selected. It wasn't until December of 1970 that a Rupp team first dressed a black In 2006, the movie Glory Road, depicting the significance of this game, was released. How I wasgoing to get back to see my mother.". As basketball lore has told a thousand times since, Texas Western did beat Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 NCAA championship. TWC held the Chiefs to just 37.3 percent shooting and outrebounded them 40-32. Haskins, who died in 2008, said he wasnt trying to make a social statement but simply starting his best players. Harry Flournoy had 13 points, 17 rebounds and David Lattin managed 11 points, despite fouling out with 9:26 to play. 1 Kentucky. "(He) carried the Harry Flournoy. The Miners, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 17-0 on the season with Thursday's win. probably never crossed Don's mind," said his assistant, Moe Iba. It was Arizona State's worst home loss in 10 years. He called the Texas Western players "loose-jointed until Texas Western coach Don Haskins did it earlier that season, no Later in his career, he signed 7-foot-2 Black center Tom Payne. Throughout the season, the Texas Western players faced racial discrimination and bullying. Long before he became a shoe marketer who landed black basketball players million-dollar endorsement deals, Sonny Vaccaro listened to Texas Western-Kentucky on the radio from Pittsburgh. 19, 1966, Texas Western College and the University of Kentucky met in the men's college basketball championship game. "I call it a watershed moment in college athletics. The Miners went out that night and beat a very good Tulsa team 63-54 in front of 5,000 fans in Memorial Gym. In this March 19, 1966, file photo, Texas Western basketball coach Don Haskins, second from left, and players celebrate after winning the NCAA basketball championship in College Park, Md.. I was simply playing the best players on the team, and they happened to be Black.. He was also certain his team would secure the championship. He was just coaching the only way he knew how. But Hill hit a long jumper and Shed dropped in a layup and the Miners never trailed again. On March 19, 1966, the Miners defeated the Kentucky Wildcats (72-65) at Cole Field House on the campus of Maryland University in College Park, MD. Even during the game when competition was heated, the trash talk never went there. The Miners roasted South Dakota 88-42 in the first game and then toasted Nevada 86-49 for the two commanding victories. Ten players in laughably short pants move slowly through 40 minutes of Texas Western met that Saturday night, March 19, 1966, in the University of 1 person. Texas Western had a cold night shooting. When asked about his decision to start five African-American players, Haskins downplayed the significance saying the best players play, and I just wanted to win the game. Haskins was a humble and private man and coach who did his best to avoid the spotlight. 72-65 victory that night over No.1 Kentucky, coached by the legendary Adolph Texas Westerns coach Don Haskins, who recruited black players, made sure it didnt happen. David Lattin had 18 points, Hill 17, Orsten Artis 16, Nevil Shed 12 and Harry Flournoy 11 as the Miners outscored the Bulldogs 49-33 in the second half. Florida State. They quickly realized it would not be an ordinary game of basketball when five white Wildcats and five black Miners stepped on the court. "`Nigger ball' they used to call it. They came from the inner cities of Detroit and Houston, and from rural areas in Missouri and Kansas. Mullens, then Texas Western's sports-information director. Nevil Shed had to hoist up Willie Worsley so he could do the honors. Adolph Rupp's teams, they ran at every opportunity. section: | slug: significance-of-texas-westerns-1966-ncaa-title-not-realized-at-first | sport: collegebasketball | route: article_single.us | After the game, he refused to congratulate or shake hands with the players. Orsten Artis had 12 points and Nevil Shed and Harry Flournoy had 10 points each. time, they would somehow revert to their native impulses.". contest, in fact, that its starting time was 10 p.m., it wasn't carried by a The Miners led by five with 1:17 to go in regulation but Kansas scrambled back to tie it 69-69 and force overtime. The Wildcats were coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp aka The Baron Of Bluegrass and led by All-American guards Pat Riley and Louie Dampier. Haskins replied, Same way I do white guys.. Kentuckys well-regarded coach, Adolph Rupp, was known for being racist. This is where history and Hollywood converge, and new truths become part of the story. Their The opening game in Wichita will pit Colorado State and the University of Houston. Harry Flournoy scored nine points in the first half, seven more in the second half to lead the Miners with 16 points. In fact, the opposite was true. 1966: Miners beat Utah, to play Kentucky in Finals. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Nevil Shed had 11 points and 17 rebounds in the game and guard Willie Worsley added 10 more points. "I'm proud of the way they came back after being 11 points down. The Miners overwhelmed Oklahoma City 89-74 Monday night, March 7, 1966, in the NCAA Tournament in Wichita, Kans. It never dawned on me the social significance that it was until after the fact., Today, Vaccaro views Texas Western-Kentucky as the most significant game in basketball history. "You can't measure the importance of this game and the outcome of it.". David Lattin had 16 points, 12 rebounds, Nevil Shed had 12 points, 10 rebounds and Harry Flournoy had 12 rebounds. Antonio Brown Tweets Pic Of Himself In A Baltimore Ravens Uniform. I want to win, bottom line. She heldhis hand during the flight. Willie Cager led the Miners in scoring with 18 points. The Wildcats were the favorite to win, despite the Miners 23-0 season. He took a moment to reflect on its impact on college sports. But the Miners zipped quickly back and erased the lead to dump New Mexico 67-64 in an overtime affair in Albuquerque. "People got to see this for the first time," said Gragg. Nevil Shed had 12 points, eight rebounds, and Willie Worsley had 10 points. The watershed game highlighted the end of racial segregation in college basketball. The name Texas derives from tysha, a word in the Caddoan language of the . do?". David Lattin had 16 points, 15 rebounds. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Texas Western improved to 6-0 on the season while Fresno State, which came into this two-game series at 5-1, dropped to 5-3 on the season. 2023 www.elpasotimes.com. A tight-knit group of blacks, whites and one Hispanic, the Miners played their way to the NCAA championship game against Adolph Rupp's No. Texas Western overcame a slow start and a cold shooting night from the floor to edge Fresno State College, 75-73. UTEP outrebounded South Dakota 65-35. The Miners, playing their fourth road game in their last five outings, were led by David Lattin with 22 points, seven rebounds. "'I wish I could have done one thing and I didnt do it. [6] Also, they were not invited on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was customary for the NCAA Champions. Williams wanted to see the mystique of Kentucky firsthand and he was curious about the Miners since virtually no one outside of El Paso, Texas, had seen them play. Hopelessly outclassed (by Rupp's pristine Kentucky program)." Rupp and Haskins fit those roles perfectly. The state recently launched plans to tap into a new Biden administration immigration program to bring Ukrainians fleeing the war to work in the local oil industry. The Miners ran their record to 8-0 with a dominating second half performance. Lattin and roommate Bobby Joe Hill sitting on their beds. Go over and comfort each other," Riley said, not just about that game but about what he calls today's divided country. White and Hill exchanged free throws and the Miners led 79-73. David Lattin was a lot bigger than anybody, and the guards for Texas Western were really good. Texas Western ran over Arizona State 84-67 Thursday night, Jan. 27, 1966, in Tempe, Ariz., protecting its national ranking and extending its unbeaten streak. When you do something for someone else, its a legacy that lasts forever.. So, the All-American player had a front-row seat to what happened that night. Texas Western, ranked 6th in the nation, ripped New Mexico State 104-78 in front of a standing room only crowd of 5,201 in Memorial Gym on Tuesday night, Feb. 1, 1966. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Required fields are marked *. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Of Texas Western's seven black players -- the Miners also had four whites In the years immediately after Texas Western's title, the integration of Its my legacy. Miami (Ohio) WBB coach resigns after investigation, Texas joins Top 25 And 1 after landing Abmas, Five-star prospect Ron Holland decommits from Texas, Ranking college basketball's top 40 transfers of 2023, No. Bobby Joe Hill scored 20 points and Nevil Shed had 16 in the first half alone as the Miners took a commanding 55-30 lead at the intermission. Otherwise, games It didn't win as many games as his . The score was tied at 72-72 with two minutes to play. A crowd of 7,800, featuring many Miner fans, watched the game in the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium. quickly. Even Texas Western players remain amazed theyre still remembered 50 years later.
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