Texas Western edged Fresno State 75-73 on Friday night, Dec. 17, 1965 with an injured Bobby Joe Hill watching from the sidelines. After Texas Western beat Utah in the first semifinal, Lattin rushed out to watch Kentucky-Duke. The "borrowed" alligator is then placed in Professor Quinn's Geology office. By then, even deep-South SEC schools like Auburn and 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, an all-white team. If we could have just gone over and shook their hands. college sports took a great leap forward. Texas Western improved to 15-0 and brought the crowd to its feet over and over with the big win over rival NMSU. Haskins fumed at his counterpart's reaction. Changing the day will navigate the page to that given day in history. It turned out to be one of the greatest nights in the history of college sports. But it was on the boards that the Miners truly dominated this game. It was as if history demanded that for change finally to occur, a great hero 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. 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. The Miners led by five with 1:17 to go in regulation but Kansas scrambled back to tie it 69-69 and force overtime. Theydid it againstKentucky's all-white squad. Learn how your comment data is processed. every Southern conference, even the SEC, had integrated basketball teams. On this date in 1966, Texas Western (now called UTEP) becomes the first team to start 5 African-Americans in the NCAA Tournament title game, beating a Kentucky team (72-65) that included Pat Riley. 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. Texas Western was beaten 74-72 at Seattle, Kentucky 69-62 at Tennessee. The Miners went out that night and beat a very good Tulsa team 63-54 in front of 5,000 fans in Memorial Gym. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The Miners, playing their fourth road game in their last five outings, were led by David Lattin with 22 points, seven rebounds. Now-President of the Miami Heat, Riley explained, I just went immediately, quickly through there, said what I had to say and left them to have their moment. Riley worked his way into the Texas Western locker room on his own and remembers seeing pure joy,as USA Today details. Rupp crossed paths at a sports banquet in Ohio, the younger coach nearly Winning was. 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. blacks continued to start for the Miners. How can you talk to these black guys like that?" Other Kentucky players shown are Tommy Kron (30) and Larry Conley (40). Texas Western met that Saturday night, March 19, 1966, in the University of Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 18 points. Watch the 1966 NCAA Championship game now and you'll He was one of them. Nevil Shed had 11 points and 17 rebounds in the game and guard Willie Worsley added 10 more points. 1966: TWC dumps New Mexico State Aggies, 73-56. Hill led the Miners in scoring with 15 points. 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. They would never trail again. 1966: Seattle wins, 74-72, to end Miner string. characterized the game as "one of the most wretched (stories) in the history 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. three came within a semester of their degrees and have not suffered because 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. What If: Duke Had Played Texas Western In 1966 Instead Of Kentucky? 1966 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records The Miners, on the strength of their 86-68 win over No. They were basketball players, who were still pretty single-minded, focused on basketball. They cruised on to take a 40-26 halftime lead. The Miners tried to even things with shot after shot down the stretch. I hate to hear him saying that. players he did recruit -- like Kentuckians Butch Beard and Wes Unseld -- How the 1966 NCAA Championship changed the world Julia Worsley never talked to her sonabout Black and white, he said. Texas Western walked the ball up court, ran The game began with a message. And none of them would drop. As a matter of fact, when Haskins was unloading the moving truck into his El Paso home after taking the job, one of the teams players that he inherited,Nolan Richardson, who would go on to become a legendary national championship-winning coach at the University of Arkansas in the 1990s, showed up to welcome and help him get situated. would dissolve into chaos. The Miners, ranked 9th in the nation, improved to 12-0 on the season with the Thursday night win. He always blamed the loss on a flu bug, on inept shooting, on the referees, Bobby Joe Hill had 13 points, Orsten Artis had 10 and David Lattin, who got into first half foul trouble, had 10 points, 10 rebounds. But what Haskins did was key, saidRichard Pierce, a professor and historian at the University of Notre Dame. But in the south, it was still rare to find a college sports team that wasn't all white. The Miners roster consisted of seven African-Americans. The Miners, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 17-0 on the season with Thursday's win. player, Tom Payne. Nevil Shed finished with 13 points while Harry Flournoy scored 12. Haskins, who died in 2008, said he wasnt trying to make a social statement but simply starting his best players. 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. It had been a year since the voting rights marches from Selma to. 1 ranked Kentucky team 72-65. pic.twitter.com/Lmk67DtL3o. Willie Worsley, Harry Flournoy, Orsten Artis, Nevil Shed and Willie Cager standing. American cities. This is the most important college game ever played? Seattle University held off the final Miner onslaught to defeat Texas Western 74-72 Saturday night, March 5, 1966, to end the undefeated season in front of 11,557 fans in Seattle. Nevil Shed had 14 points, nine rebounds. Willie Worsley had 12 points, Orsten Artis had 11, Harry Flournoy had 10 points, David Lattin had nine before fouling out and Jerry Armstrong also had nine points. "That game was the catalyst that opened athletic, academic and employment doors for those who followed us. Otherwise, Miners players said there was no racial tension. Don Haskins, 78; basketball coach was first to win NCAA title with 5 The Miners roasted South Dakota 88-42 in the first game and then toasted Nevada 86-49 for the two commanding victories. If you get too low, it's a long way back up.". March Madness fans will remember the 2020 tournament as the competition that never happened. 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. quote of the tournament when he was talking about Texas Western," wrote John Haskins deserves plenty of credit for how he recruited and utilized his Black players especially guys like Bobby Joe Hill from Michigan, Harry Flourney from Gary, Indiana, Houstons David Lattin and Willie Worsley, a 5-foot-6 phenomenon out of DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, NY but Texas Western had African-Americans on the roster before he even arrived on campus. Rupp and Haskins fit those roles perfectly. In the years immediately after Texas Western's title, the integration of 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. time, they would somehow revert to their native impulses.". How about that? violent game. 69 Texas Western 1966 Premium High Res Photos The hate came from both sides. The Wildcats, whose only previous loss She took his hand and walked him through the airport. "I was simply playing the best players on the team, and they happened to be Black.". All Rights Reserved. Riley has one regret about that game, and it's not the loss. Texas Revolution - Wikipedia Throughout the season, the Texas Western players faced racial discrimination and bullying. The 1966 Texas Western roster included seven African-Americans, four whites and one Hispanic player: Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin, Orsten Artis, Nevil Shed, Harry Flournoy, Willie Worsley, Willie Cager, Louis Baudoin, Jerry Armstrong, David Palacio, Dick Myers and Togo Railey. Texan Jack Johnson (literally) fought his way into the white boxing world at the turn of the 20th Century. He was a tough guy, but were all tough. court, he confronted his two guards about the steals," recalled Eddie The squad also had four Anglo-Americans (Jerry Armstrong, Louis Baudoin, Dick Meyers, and Togo Railey and one Mexican-American Dave Palacio). In 1966 his team won the NCAA tournament over the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp. White and Hill exchanged free throws and the Miners led 79-73. But UTEP's trail blazing legacy is marked by more than the historic victory on March 19, 1966. 1952 - Student pranksters "borrow" a live alligator from San Jacinto Plaza. But I didn't.". But the Miners raced back, took a 45-39 lead and never looked back. Texas Western College, now UTEP, defeated the University of Kentucky. Kentuckys well-regarded coach, Adolph Rupp, was known for being racist. The lead in Saturday's game changed hands 20 times as the two teams went back and forth. On the other side of the track sat another goal. 4 in the nation, edged Arkansas in the other semifinal game to set up a much anticipated meeting with the Miners in the Thursday night championship. In fact, You were led to believe that Don Haskins played by Gig Harbor High School grad Josh Lucas coached Texas Western to the NCAA title a year removed from. 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. through the hoop as much as possible, will present quite a challenge to Texas Western and Kentucky are the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the nation. Browse 69 texas western 1966 photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. "He came into the room and he said, 'Coach Rupp said in the press conference you couldn't beat five whiteguys,'" Lattin said this week. Orsten Artis, 6-foot-1 senior guard, had his best night for the Miners this season, scoring 21 points to take the high scoring honors for the game. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. major network, and it was televised only on a tape-delayed basis in several 1966: Texas Western Miners win 22nd, down Rams. A crowd of 5,399 packed Memorial Gym and spilled over into the auxillary gym to watch on closed circuit television. 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. 2001, you'll see more athletic talent at many high school games. universities. A crowd of 7,800, featuring many Miner fans, watched the game in the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium. READ MORE: Linda Brown From Historic Brown v. Board Case Passes Away. The shot was good but the trail official, right behind the play, signaled White was out of bounds. just 38 percent. sometimes embellishing his excuses with hints that Texas Western somehow had Bobby Joe Hill, the Miner point guard, picked up three fouls early and had to sit for 13 minutes in the first half. Texas Western had a cold night shooting. Hill led the Miners with 18 points. That, again, was nearly opposite the reality. Two years later, Payne had left, and Kentucky was His only defeat in an NCAA title game haunted Rupp. Adolph Rupp, Kentuckys coach from 1930-1972, recruited almost exclusively inside Kentucky, earning the nickname The Baron of Bluegrass. Like many other coaches of the era, Rupp did not recruit African American players. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so. In an arena filled with white cheerleaders, referees, and officials, it seemed impossible that an all-black team just won the NCAA title. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Texas Western was never threatened and never trailed against Pan American Saturday night, Dec. 11, 1965, in front of 4,500 fans in Memorial Gym. 1966: TWC nips Pan American, stays unbeaten. It was the first. 1966: Miner's late surge edges Lobos in overtime. The 1965-66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now known as the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). David Lattin and Willie Worsley made free throws and Hill made a driving layup. the basketball but sign it. 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. Cager later made two free throws to give Texas Western a 76-72 lead. 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. In stark contrast, the final game of the 1966 NCAA Tournament holds a place in civil rights history. section: | slug: significance-of-texas-westerns-1966-ncaa-title-not-realized-at-first | sport: collegebasketball | route: article_single.us | 1966: AP rates TWC ninth in poll; Miners Defeat Tulsa. Who did the Texas Western Miners lose to Seattle or Tulsa? The Disney movie took liberties. Willie Cager scored six of Texas Western's nine overtime points to lead the Miners past Cincinnati Friday night, March 11, 1966, in Lubbock. "It was a thrill for meI'm kind of a young punkand to play a game with Mr. Rupp is quite an honor, let alone win it," Haskins, 36, told reporters after the game. It first signedCharlie Brown in 1956. High in the bleachers, Kentucky fans wave a For several years Kentucky president John W. Fireball seen over 4 states was not a meteor, experts say | Fort Worth They were known as Rupp's runts. Willie Worsley added 11 points for Texas Western. No.1-ranked Kentucky, meanwhile, was the run-and-gun team. 2023 www.indystar.com. That win accelerated the advancement of black athletes in the South. The winners of the two games advance to Lubbock for the NCAA Regional Tournament Friday and Saturday. He treated us all poor. I want to win, bottom line. "People got to see this for the first time," said Gragg. Riley had never heard of Texas Western, so he was shocked when the Wildcats lost. Fine, Hill! Haskins shouted, according to the story. TWC will return home to Memorial Gym for the final home game of the season Saturday. "'I'm so happy to have beena part of it," Riley said, "even on the losing side.". 1966 Texas Western Champ Roots For Grandson In NCAA Final Four Black athletes, prevailing wisdom The game was played during an era of racial unrest and as the civil rights movement was gaining power. Nevil Shed had to hoist up Willie Worsley so he could do the honors. were reluctant to play for him. He didnt treat African-American guys differently than white guys.. There wereno racial slurs from Kentucky players. ", 1966: TWC rallies to rout Oklahoma City, 89-74. On March 19, 1966, fans packed Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland, to watch the matchup between Kentucky and Texas Western. The nationally ranked Hawkeyes dropped to 8-1 on the season. "We have to cross the aisle. 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. The closer Texas Western (see cover) came . in 1977, the old coach lamented to visitors about the loss. 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. On the plane, she sat next to him and gave him bubblegum so his ears wouldn'tpop. Bobby Joe Hill had 20 points and Orsten Artis added 18. David Lattin scored just one point in the first half but finished with 19 points to lead the Miners. He was just coaching the only way he knew how. Texas Western made only 34.2 percent of its shots but the Miner defense held West Texas to just 29.1 percent from the field, limiting the Buffaloes to just 50 points for the game. Until that moment, at the height of the civil-rights era, no major-college 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. It was discouraging, but you had to consider the source.. Nor, for that matter, was UCLA the only time in John. cheated by using ineligible players. ESPN Classic - Texas Western's 1966 title left lasting legacy The Shadow League is a narrative company. They were the only Miners to score in double figures. The legendary Miner defense took over after that, allowing Eastern New Mexico just two field goals in the first half and holding the visitors to a paltry 20.8 percent shooting from the field. Kentucky was all-white 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.. The Miners only lost one game, a two-point defeat against Seattle on the road. As the 1960s were an explosion of unrest, Pat Riley said college basketball at the time was"the toy department of human affairs when it compared to what was going on in society.". 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.
Booker T Washington High School Mascot,
Joyce Bulifant Images,
Jerry Lewis Foundation,
Articles W