I covered Texas Western's win over Kentucky. Here's how I saw history. Learn how your comment data is processed. Texas Western celebrated. High in the bleachers, Kentucky fans wave a "We played the most intelligent, the most boring, the most Texas Western smothered New Mexico State early and raced away for an easy 73-56 win over the Aggies on Wednesday night, March 2, 1966, in Las Cruces. UTEP outrebounded South Dakota 65-35. 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. athletics remained segregated. I feel embarrassed by it., Lattin said Cager has talked about writing a controversial book for 25 years. Haskins start at least one white player. Miami Heat President Pat Riley Reflects on 50th Anniversary of Texas I got mail from Blacks, saying that I was exploiting Black kids,Haskins said. Glory Road is a 2006 American sports drama film directed by James Gartner, based on a true story surrounding the events leading to the 1966 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship. 19, 1966, Texas Western College and the University of Kentucky met in the men's college basketball championship game. 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. 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. and Louie Dampier, were small, quick and athletic. Harry Flournoy had a huge game with 14 points, 14 rebounds. 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. stupid sons of bitches!' The thing you noticed at the start of the game was Texas Western did have a size advantage, Williams said. Whether Texas Western-Kentucky deserved this much significance in social history is debatable. 1965: Miners beat Fresno State 75-73 in game 5. Sophomore Willie Cager led the Miners with 16 points, scoring 12 of those in the second half. "They didn't know what to write. Texas secession movements - Wikipedia This Day In 1966: Texas Western, featuring the first all-black starting lineup, beats Adolph Rupps Kentucky team to win NCAA title. But then the Miners' full-court pressure kept the Aggies from getting the ball across mid-court for the next two minutes. "I'm proud of the way they came back after being 11 points down. Their tenacity paid off, and Texas Western won the game 72 65. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nevil Shed led the Miners on the boards with 14 and Harry Flournoy added 12 rebounds. Informed by Haskins that Rupp had vowed five Willie Worsley added 11 points for Texas Western. It wasn't a racial issue at the time. Between 1966 and 1985, the average Texas Western's coach Don Haskins, who recruited black players, made sure it didn't happen. Coach Haskins did say he had some threatening mail and phone calls. Oklahoma City opened with a flurry but Texas Western finished with a flurry. 2023 www.indystar.com. So are the [6] Also, they were not invited on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was customary for the NCAA Champions. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Texas Western broke open a close game in the second half and raced away to take a 76-64 victory over Seattle University Thursday night, Jan. 6, 1966, in Memorial Gym. Kansas scored with 22 seconds left then added two free throws with six seconds left when Lattin was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a Kansas player fell beneath him. "Without question, it was one of the most significant, impactful college sporting events in the history of our country.". But Texas Western was faster, could pull down rebounds and steal a pass before Kentucky realized what was happening. The Texas-Indian wars were a series of conflicts between settlers in Texas and the Southern Plains Indians during the 19th-century. Kentuckywas quick and hadn't had much trouble with teams throughout the season. I want to talk to them. In 2006, the movie Glory Road, depicting the significance of this game, was released. In his time at Texas Western/UTEP, he compiled a 719-353 record, suffering only five losing seasons. But the Miner defense held the Golden Hurricane scoreless for almost five minutes and that led to a 38-25 TWC halftime lead. They are But it was on the boards that the Miners truly dominated this game. The third-ranked Miners received word this week they were given an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Texas Western walked the ball up court, ran Texas Western took an early lead and never relinquished it on its way to a national championship. Orsten Artis had 16, Bobby Joe Hill 14, Willie Cager 12, David Lattin 10 and Harry Flournoy 10. just 38 percent. 1965: Miners take second win over Fresno State. Hill led the Miners with 22 points, followed by Lattin with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Watch the 1966 NCAA Championship game now and you'll On February 6, 2016, the now University Of Texas El Paso Miners held a reunion for the 1966 players at the Don Haskins Center. 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. I couldnt stand the movie because it didnt tell the truth, said Willie Cager, a black Texas Western forward in 1966. Of Texas Western's seven black players -- the Miners also had four whites "and Video from the game showed a Confederate flag being waved by a Kentucky fan. Haskins went on to produce many more winning teams and NBA stars before retiring from UTEP in 1999. The 196566 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), led by Hall of Fame head coach Don Haskins. Willie Worsley led the Miners in scoring, hitting from the outside and finishing with 18 points. Until that moment, at the height of the civil-rights era, no major-college They came from the inner cities of Detroit and Houston, and from rural areas in Missouri and Kansas. By Devon POV Mason | Published on: February 22, 2021 Comments (0) The 1965-66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now known as the University of Texas. 1966: TWC nips Pan American, stays unbeaten. 1966: TWC smack Chiefs, continue winning streak. 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 196566 Texas Western basketball team faced many issues due to racism. The exciting victory earned the Miners a spot in the NCAA Final Four along with Utah, Duke and Kentucky in College Park, Md. 1966: TWC, Cincinnati defense to clash in NCAA. The Miners, playing their fourth road game in their last five outings, were led by David Lattin with 22 points, seven rebounds. 1966 NCAA tournament: Bracket Harry Flournoy had 13 points, 17 rebounds and David Lattin managed 11 points, despite fouling out with 9:26 to play. It was Arizona State's worst home loss in 10 years. Texas Western and Kentucky are the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the nation. TWC held the Chiefs to just 37.3 percent shooting and outrebounded them 40-32. Led by Don Haskins, a gruff, straight-talking coach known as "The Bear," the Texas Western Miners lit up the 1965-66 regular season with a 23-1 record. characterized the game as "one of the most wretched (stories) in the history Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. and a great villain must meet. The Miners roster consisted of seven African-Americans. The meeting was swift and to the point. "The fact that he was doing something historic by playing five blacks, that American cities. Contribute to The Shadow League today and help us share our narratives. "No one will remember him without remembering us," said Texas Western's He cut to the middle of the court, went high just in front of the top of the circle and, on the dead run, drained the game winner. And, like all of coach implied, needed the steadying hand of a white teammate. those racist myths. through the hoop as much as possible, will present quite a challenge to Black players were no longer taboo, and basketball was never the same. Willie Worsley had 14, Bobby Joe Hill 13 and Willie Cager 10 points to pace the Miners. Athletes who had And three years before Rupp told reporters five Black players couldn't beat five white players, the Alabama National Guard forced Gov. ordinary basketball. Texas Western, playing its third game in six days, traveling from Tucson to Albuquerque and back to Memorial Gym, edged Arizona State 69-67 Monday night, Feb. 14, 1966. quintet can do more things with a basketball than a monkey on a 50-foot He was on the Duke freshman team, Lattin said. Its idiotic. I was simply playing the best players on the team, and they happened to be Black.. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com. 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. I know we didnt approach the game thinking about race, and I dont think the Kentucky team approached it as a racial game either., Texas Western player: Don Haskins was prejudiced. Still, Rupp held out. David Lattin had 20 points, 15 rebounds. If we could have just gone over and shook their hands. Orsten Artis led the Miners with 18 points. Orsten Artis made 11-of-12 free throws and led the Miners with 19 points. "That's how coach Haskinsfound out Black guys could really play.". "Rod Hundley, the former West Virginia and Lakers star, had the funny The Miners tried to even things with shot after shot down the stretch. UTEP honored the 1966 team earlier this month during a ceremony that includes messages from President Barack Obama, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer and ESPN commentator Dick Vitale. One year before Texas Western won theNCAA title against Kentucky, 72-65, John Lewis led more than 600 people on a 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol in Montgomery. Sportswriters who had never seen Texas Western play until that weekend and Coach Haskins saved his life. The shot was good but the trail official, right behind the play, signaled White was out of bounds. 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. When you do something for someone else, its a legacy that lasts forever.. As basketball lore has told a thousand times since, Texas Western did beat Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 NCAA championship. Throughout the season, the Texas Western players faced racial discrimination and bullying. "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. "Nevil (Shed)I'll never forget him saying back then," Riley said. Nevil Shed finished with 13 points while Harry Flournoy scored 12. The Miners, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 18-0 with the win. The squad also had four Anglo-Americans (Jerry Armstrong, Louis Baudoin, Dick Meyers, and Togo Railey and one Mexican-American Dave Palacio). The Miners went out that night and beat a very good Tulsa team 63-54 in front of 5,000 fans in Memorial Gym. ", 1966: TWC rallies to rout Oklahoma City, 89-74. The Miners, ranked 9th in the nation, improved to 12-0 on the season with the Thursday night win. Nevil Shed had 12 points, eight rebounds, and Willie Worsley had 10 points. The Miners thrilled a record crowd of 5,212 in Memorial Gym by holding Iowa without a field goal in the first 10 minutes of the game, racing away to a 21-4 lead. On the Miners' second possession, he took a pass from Bobby Joe Hill and, Don Haskins - Wikipedia "That game was the catalyst that opened athletic, academic and employment doors for those who followed us. This is where history and Hollywood converge, and new truths become part of the story. It'slike a Jackie Robinson moment,"said Derrick Gragg, the NCAA's senior vice president for inclusion, education and community engagement. That was furthest thing from my mind," he said. 2 transfer Max Abmas commits to Texas. Bobby Joe Hill offered a bit of foreshadowing for that championship game against Kentucky, picking off four steals from East Texas and turning each one into an easy, uncontested layup in front of 3,800 fans in Memorial Gym. The Miners never trailed and led this game 45-21 at the half on their way to setting up a meeting with Nevada in Wednesday night's championship game. "You know what I was thinking about? Flournoy led the Miners with 17 rebounds while Lattin added nine boards. violent game. Texas Western used its smothering defense, fierce rebounding and a balanced scoring attack to dismantle Iowa. "'I wish I could have done one thing and I didnt do it. Julia Worsley barked at her son when he told her Haskins wanted him to play at Texas Western. The American . universities. And those letters from the whites in the south, you can just imagine what they said. The top rebounder for the Miners was Flournoy with 11. Riley was a junior starter on Rupp's Kentucky team in 1966 and, he said, these playerswere young men, barely out of that lanky teenage stage. 1966: TWC dumps New Mexico State Aggies, 73-56. Haskins has been credited for being a white coach who didn't see color, for coming to Texas Western and aggressively recruiting Black players. True Story Of Glory Road: Texas Western Shocks Kentucky In 1966 The game was played during an era of racial unrest and as the civil rights movement was gaining power. 69 Texas Western 1966 Premium High Res Photos Riley had never heard of Texas Western, so he was shocked when the Wildcats lost. But examine the grainy film more closely. Texas-Indian wars - Wikipedia The bigger change, of course, came in the South. I was completely and totally shocked, Lattin said. memory of that game to his grave," wrote his biographer, Russell Rice. Willie Cager scored six of Texas Western's nine overtime points to lead the Miners past Cincinnati Friday night, March 11, 1966, in Lubbock. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. It was as if history demanded that for change finally to occur, a great hero Two of Worsley's friends, Cager and Shed, were playing there, too. In 1966, Texas Western Changed the Face of College Athletics The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 First of all, we came from nowhere and no one expected us to be there. consecutive steals from Kentucky's guards. Florida State. I want to win, bottom line. 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. Haskins fumed at his counterpart's reaction. 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. 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. Even during the game when competition was heated, the trash talk never went there. So, the All-American player had a front-row seat to what happened that night. And four when behind", things changed Ray suggested Harry Flournoy had nine points, 11 rebounds and Orsten Artis also added nine points to help the Miner cause. Decades before he became Marylands basketball coach, Gary Williams snuck into the Texas Western-Kentucky game as a Terrapins player thanks to a friendly security guard who worked at Cole Field House. Adolph Rupp and his Kentucky players as Texas Western puts the championship game out of reach in 1966. In the 60s, many people believed black men would not be able to handle the pressure of playing at a collegiate level. Seattle standout Tom Workman hit a jumper from the top of the circle to give his team the 74-72 lead with just over a minute to play. Hill sat out the first half and the Miners led 34-32 at the intermission. The Miners nursed the lead, pulling ahead to stay when Hill converted In 1966, Texas Western became the first team with an all-black starting five to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament. She heldhis hand during the flight. It still matters because race is still prevalent in the American eye.. The team was eventually inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame. Your email address will not be published. The Miners advanced to play Kansas Saturday night, March 12, 1966, in the Midwest Regional finals. of Rupp's 1,066 games at Kentucky, in March of 1972, his team lost to The two teams finished regulation tied at 67-67. Get their watches. gave it a unique opportunity, had been pushing Rupp to recruit a black. Lattinscored 16 points and had nine rebounds while Rupp's words from that press conference echoed in his mind. By then, even deep-South SEC schools like Auburn and In fact, Texas Western won 72-65 in the title game. Browse 69 texas western 1966 photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. "The only other thing he said was, 'It's up to you.' 1949 - College of Mines name changed to Texas Western College of the University of Texas. 50 years later, Texas Western's victory resonates in civil rights But that wasnt the same thing as President (Lyndon) Johnson), Cager said. He was just coaching the only way he knew how. Chambers still managed to score 38 points in the game. Three were from New York; two from El Paso; and two from Gary, Indiana. The Miners shot 50.8 percent from the field and held the Aggies to just 34.1 percent. Kansas scored again but Cager took a pass from Hill inside and scored and the Miners were up 81-75. "It's just one of those things that sticks out to me about that game.". The score was tied at 72-72 with two minutes to play. Conflict between the Plains Indians and the Spanish began before other European and Anglo-American settlers were encouragedfirst by Spain and then by the newly Independent Mexican governmentto colonize Texas in order to provide a protective-settlement . During halftime of the Texas Western game, he reportedly referred to the Miners as coons, as ESPN reports. Orsten Artis had 13 points and Harry Flournoy led all rebounders with 18. Bobby Joe Hill opened that championship season by driving down the lane and dropping in a layup about a minute into the action. It had been a year since the voting rights marches from Selma to. Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 20 points. "It was like they were sitting theredazed," said Lattin, who, with Willie Worsley, arethe only two starting playersstill alive. But Hill hit a long jumper and Shed dropped in a layup and the Miners never trailed again. Texas secession movements, also known as the Texas independence movement or Texit, refers to both the secession of Texas during the American Civil War as well as activities of modern organizations supporting such efforts to secede from the United States and become an independent sovereign state.. Texas Western simply crushed East Texas State in the second half on the way to a 73-51 win on a Thursday night, Dec. 9, in game two of that 1965-66 championship season. The Miner defense was again strong, holding the Wildcats to just 36.4 percent shooting from the field. In 1966, two years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, SEC In 1966, American cultural and sporting mythology insisted at least one In an arena filled with white cheerleaders, referees, and officials, it seemed impossible that an all-black team just won the NCAA title. one shocked coach asked Haskins afterward. Bobby Joe Hill had 18, Willie Worsley 12 and David Lattin had 11. Glory Road (film) - Wikipedia Neither Seattle nor Tennessee were invited to the NCAA tournament. 1966: Seattle wins, 74-72, to end Miner string. But, as Geoffrey C. Ward writes in "Unforgivable Blackness," Johnson's unapologetic. Texas Western, 19-0, and Kentucky, 20-0, were the only two undefeated teams in the nation at this point. In the years immediately after Texas Western's title, the integration of A rematch between the two teams was played at 8 p.m. on Saturday, the following day, in Memorial Gym. It didn't win as many games as his . READ MORE: Linda Brown From Historic Brown v. Board Case Passes Away. All Rights Reserved. It was what I had done all year.. They never trailed again. 11 important details you might not know about UTEP's historic - NCAA Orsten Artis had 15 points, eight rebounds. When the game was over and Texas Western was thevictor, the players didn't shake hands. Iowa, ranked No. Writing a decade later in his book, "Sports in America", James Michener players he did recruit -- like Kentuckians Butch Beard and Wes Unseld -- 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, an all-white team. He and his all-white Kentucky program were not only the epitome of college 1966: Texas Western Miners win 22nd, down Rams. The Wildcats, whose only previous loss The following season, several college teams started to integrate. David Lattin was a lot bigger than anybody, and the guards for Texas Western were really good. It was totally different from my perspective. Follow and read more from Jon Solomon on Facebook and Twitter. I wish at that time we could haveall just embraced each other.'". 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. Make history. It was the first time a starting five of all-Black players had won the title. A member of Rupps top-ranked all-white team, Riley scored 19 points for Kentucky that night. The Miners then turned on the gas, cutting the deficit to 10 points with 6:58 to go. We wanted to carry that trophy out of there," he said. In fact, until Texas Western coach Don Haskins did. UTEP Miners men's basketball - Wikipedia The 1965-66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), led by Hall of Fame head coach Don Haskins. Maryland's Cole Field House. and they were committed and they were more motivated than we were.". Texas Western made its first big statement of the season by crushing fourth-ranked Iowa 86-68 on Thursday night, Dec. 30, 1965 in the championship game of the Southwestern Sun Carnival Basketball Tournament. Mississippi had several blacks on their teams. How Texas Western's 1966 national championship changed college - NCAA Hill led the Miners with 18 points. Just about treating people kindly. Worsley. The further we got away from the game, the more it was talked about.. knew nothing about the team but its curious racial makeup helped sustain The team was immortalized in the 2006 film Glory Road. 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. "I had been listening to all this damn crap out of him," said Haskins. What Texas Western's Black players and white coach did in 1966 Title. team had ever started five blacks in an NCAA championship game. 1965: Miners take opening game, beat ENMU. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. History of Texas - Wikipedia