who did texas western lose to in 1966
renamed the University of Texas at El Paso. True Story Of Glory Road: Texas Western Shocks Kentucky In 1966 Black athletes, prevailing wisdom March Madness fans will remember the 2020 tournament as the competition that never happened. But the Miners came right back, took the lead and led 43-37 at the half and never trailed again. "I . Hill and Shed led the Miners for the entire game, each scoring 20 points and neither playing a great deal in the final half. We wanted to carry that trophy out of there," he said. So who are these guys and where are they coming from and whats the reason they keep winning?. In fact, the nucleus had been on campus for a while, winning 18 games the year before while qualifying for the NIT in 1965. The Miners overwhelmed Oklahoma City 89-74 Monday night, March 7, 1966, in the NCAA Tournament in Wichita, Kans. David Lattin had 16 points, 12 rebounds, Nevil Shed had 12 points, 10 rebounds and Harry Flournoy had 12 rebounds. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. The Wildcats, whose only previous loss For the next four years he was at Texas Western, the woman would pick up Worsley every Sunday from campus and take him to her house for dinner. Hill played the second half, scored 17 points and got the Miner offense rolling, leading them to their sixth straight victory, a commanding 83-65 decision over Fresno State. Its idiotic. The team was presented with keys to the city of El Paso. those racist myths. Worsley. racial matters. But I didn't.". Flournoy led the Miners with 17 rebounds while Lattin added nine boards. Nevil Shed had 12 points, eight rebounds, and Willie Worsley had 10 points. Later that year, when he and 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. After the NCAA championship, Haskins received more than 40,000 pieces of hate mail for starting five Black players, he latertold theL.A. Times. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Current one is: March 19. In 1966, American cultural and sporting mythology insisted at least one "Hell, he'd Texas Western College, now UTEP, defeated the University of Kentucky. If we could have just gone over and shook their hands. Haskins says I was simply playing the best players I had. 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. "They didn't know what to write. Vic Bubas always said that his 1966 team was his best. 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. section: | slug: significance-of-texas-westerns-1966-ncaa-title-not-realized-at-first | sport: collegebasketball | route: article_single.us | He called the Texas Western players "loose-jointed The NCAA title game had yet to morph into March Madness when Kentucky and The Texas-Indian wars were a series of conflicts between settlers in Texas and the Southern Plains Indians during the 19th-century. Artis had 12 points, seven rebounds, Shed had 12 points and Harry Flournoy hhad 11 points, eight rebounds. Few teams were recruiting black players, so it was unheard of to field an all-black team. When you do something for someone else, its a legacy that lasts forever.. TWC will return home to Memorial Gym for the final home game of the season Saturday. Elusive point guard Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 16 points, including four buckets on quick drives down the middle for layups. Shed and Flournoy led the Miners in rebounding with 10 each. Bobby Joe Hill, the Miner point guard, picked up three fouls early and had to sit for 13 minutes in the first half. Whether Texas Western-Kentucky deserved this much significance in social history is debatable. Texas Western, ranked 6th in the nation, extended its unbeaten streak to 13-0 making the Miners one of only two unbeaten teams in the nation and, unknowingly, keeping them on a collision course with 13-0 Kentucky in the national championship game. Texas secession movements - Wikipedia Nevil Shed led the Miners on the boards with 14 and Harry Flournoy added 12 rebounds. Shed had 11 and Harry Flournoy had 10 points, 10 rebounds. Maryland's Cole Field House. Its my legacy. sometimes embellishing his excuses with hints that Texas Western somehow had Native people lived in what is now Texas more than 10,000 years ago, as evidenced by the discovery of the remains of prehistoric Leanderthal Lady.In 1519, the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors in the region of North America now known as Texas found the region occupied by numerous Native American tribes. Then he walked out of my room.". It was like they just sat there, 'What are we going to write about?'". 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 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.. 1 ranked Kentucky team 72-65. pic.twitter.com/Lmk67DtL3o. mid-1970s, four of Kentucky's five starters, including Dampier and Riley, 1966: TWC beats NM Aggies 104-78, win 15th. The Miners shot just 30.3 percent from the field but outrebounded the Rams 48-31. 1966: TWC squeaks by CSU, 68-66, for 16th straight. "There was a certain style of play whites expected from blacks," said Perry Texas Western, ranked second in the nation, fell Saturday evening. That win accelerated the advancement of black athletes in the South. George Wallace to end his blockade so Black students could enroll at Alabama. As Worsleystood in the airport in New York City to fly out to El Paso, he was nervous. Your email address will not be published. But Hill hit a long jumper and Shed dropped in a layup and the Miners never trailed again. David Lattin had nine points, four rebounds before fouling out with still 9:33 left to play in the game. have played five kids from Mars if they were his best five players.". He just couldn't take it.". white starter was necessary for success. I wish at that time we could haveall just embraced each other.'". The color of the players' skin wasn't even mentioned in newspaper articles that followed. Julia Worsley never talked to her sonabout Black and white, he said. At Northern colleges, where the unwritten rule for coaches had been, "Two Coach Haskins did say he had some threatening mail and phone calls. Hill led the Miners with 18 points. Their 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. Nevil Shed led the Miners with 19 points and Willie Worsley added 14. 1965: Miners take opening game, beat ENMU. The Rams took a two-point lead in the final two minutes but a Lattin dunk leveled the game at 66-66 with 1:28 to play. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. TWC led just 29-22 at the half but shot 60 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes and outscored Nevada 57-27 in front of 3,600 fans. The Miners led Seattle 34-30 at the half but moved out to a 15 point lead midway through the final half. Seattle, Wash. -Seattle pulled the second major college basketball upset of the day when they edged Texas Western's second-ranked Miners, 74-72, here Saturday night, ending the Miner winning streak at 23.Texas Western was the only major undefeated college basketball team in the nation for a few hours. It's a regret he once heard Shed voice. Just about treating people kindly. He was on the Duke freshman team, Lattin said. Don Haskins portrayed by Josh Lucas, head coach of Texas Western College (now known as University of Texas at El Paso or UTEP), coached a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. "I had it pretty good," he said. The score was tied 2-2 just 74 seconds into the game. 7 Related Question Answers Found. 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. Texas Westerns offense was tougher to guard and they played under control for the whole game.. 1966: Texas Western Miners win 22nd, down Rams. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, an all-white team. Nevil Shed had to hoist up Willie Worsley so he could do the honors. In the 1966-67 season, The top rebounder for the Miners was Flournoy with 11. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com. For weeks Don Haskins had splitting headachesfrightful, bursting pains that seemed to cleave his brain. 3 in 1966, wasn't on a crusade when they bookended their 27-1 season with an NCAA title, but they did exude the courage to challenge the status quo. Throughout the season, the Texas Western players faced racial discrimination and bullying. In 1955, Texas Western was the first state college in Texas to integrate its undergraduate classes. 50 years later, Texas Western's victory resonates in civil rights And three years before Rupp told reporters five Black players couldn't beat five white players, the Alabama National Guard forced Gov. 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. "I was simply playing the best players on the team, and they happened to be Black.". Lattin had 24 points, 12 in each half, and 13 rebounds. How many black players did Texas Western have on the team? The Miners dominated the overtime period and escaped with the win. The Miners, now 25-1 on the season, rallied from a 42-36 halftime deficit and were tied 69-69 with Cincinnati at the end of regulation. 2001, you'll see more athletic talent at many high school games. Texas Western Upsets Kentucky for N.C.A.A. No big deal. "It's just one of those things that sticks out to me about that game.". Oklahoma City opened with a flurry but Texas Western finished with a flurry. And, like all of coach Texas Western held on to outlast UTAH 85-78 Friday night in the NCAA semifinals in front of 14,253 fans in Cole Field House in College Park, Md. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Orsten Artis had 15 points, eight rebounds. 1965: TWC takes second win of young season. Pat Riley Recalls Historic March Madness Moment in Kentucky's Loss to team had ever started five blacks in an NCAA championship game. Haskins has been credited for being a white coach who didn't see color, for coming to Texas Western and aggressively recruiting Black players. The Miners, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 17-0 on the season with Thursday's win. 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. You can navigate days by using left and right arrows. 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. ESPN Classic - Texas Western's 1966 title left lasting legacy David Lattin had 14 points, seven rebounds. It still matters because race is still prevalent in the American eye.. 72-65 victory that night over No.1 Kentucky, coached by the legendary Adolph 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. "and Still, Worsley said, his motherworried about him going to play college basketball in Texas. 1966: TWC win 14th straight, sweep West Texas state. Neither team would score again. Afterward, he realized he hadnt shaken hands with his worthy opponents. They were basketball players, who were still pretty single-minded, focused on basketball. In 2006, the movie Glory Road, depicting the significance of this game, was released. Harry Flournoy had a huge game with 14 points, 14 rebounds. Texas Western, an independent from remote El Paso, was little known In 1966, two years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, SEC Hill sat out the first half and the Miners led 34-32 at the intermission. Arizona led four times, each time by one point. The U.S. Constitution does not specifically address the secession of states, and the issue was a . The win was the Miner's fifth of the season without a loss at Memorial Gym Friday night. 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. violent game. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: collegebasketball | pageType: stories | This Day In 1966: Texas Western, featuring the first all-black starting lineup, beats Adolph Rupps Kentucky team to win NCAA title. 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. Athletic directors began changing recruiting practices, and talent became more prevalent than race. Their tenacity paid off, and Texas Western won the game 72 - 65. ". 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. 196566 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team, Texas Western Miners basketball 196566 NCAA champions, NCAA Division I men's basketball champions, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, "Texas Western defeats Kentucky in NCAA final", "Hill and friends flummox favored Kentucky by 72-65", Wayland Baptist Women's Teams (19481982), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=196566_Texas_Western_Miners_men%27s_basketball_team&oldid=1146686586, 196566 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents season, NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship seasons, NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons, 1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament participants, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Hutchison, Phillip. 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. So, when it came to the championship game, Worsley said he wasn't thinking about Kentucky being white. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Cager is out of his mind. READ MORE: Linda Brown From Historic Brown v. Board Case Passes Away. All Rights Reserved. Until that moment, at the height of the civil-rights era, no major-college team had ever started five blacks in an NCAA championship game. 1965: Miners beat Fresno State 75-73 in game 5. Title. Kentucky defeated Auburn 115-78 Saturday to improve to 14-0. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The Miners held Tulsa to just 37.7 percent shooting from the field. W. Stewart in the Baltimore Sun that weekend. 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. "I call it a watershed moment in college athletics. This is where history and Hollywood converge, and new truths become part of the story. But the Miners raced back, took a 45-39 lead and never looked back. number of blacks on college teams jumped from 2.9 to 5.7. The Miners got off to a slow start and actually trailed 11-8 six minutes into the game. But it was not enough for the Jayhawks. 1966: TWC dumps New Mexico State Aggies, 73-56. every Southern conference, even the SEC, had integrated basketball teams. 2023 www.indystar.com. Rupp, after his first meeting with Oswald, told Lancaster, "Harry, that son More than 40 years later, we remember - and cherish - the game that changed basketball forever. Miami Heat President Pat Riley Reflects on 50th Anniversary of Texas That was it.". Texas Westerns players came from all over the country to El Paso, Texas. 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. Haskins went on to produce many more winning teams and NBA stars before retiring from UTEP in 1999. "(He said) `You snapped. "`Nigger ball' they used to call it. Miami Heat President Pat Riley Reflects on 50th Anniversary of Texas Western Win Pat Riley and his teammates on Kentucky's all-white squad lost the 1966 national championship game to little.
