1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team
1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team
The image shows the 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team. Front row (from left to right): Bobby Joe Hill, Willie Worsley. Second row (from left to right): Dick Myers, Louis Baudoin, David Lattin, Nevil Shed, Harry Flournoy, Jerry Armstrong, Willie Cager, Togo Railey, David Palacio, Orsten Artis.
The 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team made history by winning the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Coach Don Haskins lined up an all-black team, which defeated the favored Kentucky Wildcats (a team that was all-white) 72-65 in the historic championship game, played at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966. No major-college team had ever started five black players in an NCAA championship game, which is why this game is considered one of the most important ones in the history of college basketball.
The civil rights movement to end discrimination against blacks was in full swing. Although institutional racial segregation was outlawed since 1954, it was still common to find all-white college sports teams, particularly in the South.
Texas Western University (now UTEP) was little known outside the Southwest and additionally, in 1966, American cultural and sporting mythology insisted at least one white starter was necessary for success. Although never having watched the Miners play, some sportswriters supported those racist prejudices. The legendary coach of Kentucky, Adolph Rupp, had even vowed five blacks would never beat his team.
Consequently, the team faced many issues because of their color: Not only the Kentucky team was all-white, but also the crowd was white, so were the NCAA officials, the referees, the coaches, the cheerleaders and almost all the sportswriters on press row. After their win, no one brought out a ladder for them to cut down the net. Nevil Shed had to hoist up Willie Worsley so he could do the honors.
The win soon grew into a symbol for blacks' breakthrough into college sports. After the 1966 championship, college teams throughout the South began aggressively recruiting black athletes. All-white leagues like the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southwestern Conference and Southeastern Conference became integrated within the next two years.
Adolph Rupp, a very successful coach, never got over the defeat. He blamed it on different things, and even accused the Texas Western team of cheating.
Don Haskins (1930-2008) coached the Miners from 1961 to 1999 when he retired. Nicknamed “The Bear”, he led the Miners to 719 wins, as well as a national title (1966), 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven Western Athletic Conference championships. He has tutored numerous players who have gone on to play in the NBA (e.g. Antonio Davis, Tim Hardaway, Jim Barnes). Haskins always said that color of skin was never an issue but he wanted to start his best players. While blacks couldn't play at most Southern and Southwestern schools in the mid-1960s, Haskins welcomed them at Texas Western, recruiting them from New York City, Detroit and Gary, Ind. The head coach was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Jim Thorpe Association Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
The championship team of 1966 was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and inspired the book and film Glory Road. It consisted of seven black players, four whites and one Hispanic.
Image Description: In this black and white photo, the Texas Western Basketball Team are standing shoulder to shoulder and smiling at the camera for a team photo. There are 2 players are kneeling in the front of the photo while 10 other players pose standing. They are all wearing tank tops with "Texas Western" embroidered along with their respective player number, shorts, long white socks and white sneakers.
