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. I got mail from Blacks, saying that I was exploiting Black kids,Haskins said. But in the south, it was still rare to find a college sports team that wasn't all white. Rupp and Haskins fit those roles perfectly. 1949 - College of Mines name changed to Texas Western College of the University of Texas. All Rights Reserved. That win accelerated the advancement of black athletes in the South. She took his hand and walked him through the airport. Curiously, while Oswald had been prodding Rupp, Texas Western president Lattin remembers Haskins telling him so many times about that player. Even during the game when competition was heated, the trash talk never went there. But I didn't.". 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. More than 40 years later, we remember - and cherish - the game that changed basketball forever. Kentucky," wrote the Sun's James H. Jackson. I wasnt out to be a pioneer when we played Kentucky, Texas Western coach Don Haskins told the Los Angeles Times years later. 19, 1966, Texas Western College and the University of Kentucky met in the men's college basketball championship game. In the 1966-67 season, It was March 19, 1966, the night a team with five black starters made history by winning a national championship. 1966: TWC nips Pan American, stays unbeaten. 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. Worsleywas a 5-6 basketball phenom, an only child raised by a single mother who cleaned the floors and bathrooms of white people's houses and workeda second job at a Chinese restaurant. 5:57 pm ET. He said it was probably the worst day of his life when he lost that game, but he felt the right team won because it did so much for others. Neither team would score again. He always blamed the loss on a flu bug, on inept shooting, on the referees, Cager scored in the lane, was fouled and made the free throw to put the Miners up 74-70 in overtime. ". Quickly following Texan independence, the United States admitted Texas into the republic as a slave state. Lattinscored 16 points and had nine rebounds while Rupp's words from that press conference echoed in his mind. 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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! "It's just one of those things that sticks out to me about that game.". Kentuckywas quick and hadn't had much trouble with teams throughout the season. Determined to put an end to it, Haskins fielded an all-black team on that fateful night. 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. David Lattin led TWC with 14 points, 11 rebounds. After the NCAA title in 1966,the nation watched the players goto the White House and meet Lyndon B. Johnson. Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 18 points. Texas Western celebrated. In his time at Texas Western/UTEP, he compiled a 719-353 record, suffering only five losing seasons. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. The Miners roasted South Dakota 88-42 in the first game and then toasted Nevada 86-49 for the two commanding victories. The team was coached by Hall of Famer Don Haskins. Make history. Antonio Brown Tweets Pic Of Himself In A Baltimore Ravens Uniform. March 17, 2016 at 9:55 a.m. EDT. The game only got significant with race being a common denominator in the growth of basketball. 1952 - Student pranksters "borrow" a live alligator from San Jacinto Plaza. American cities. 1966: TWC downs Arizona 81-72 in overtime. at "Nevil (Shed)I'll never forget him saying back then," Riley said. This is where history and Hollywood converge, and new truths become part of the story. 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. college sports took a great leap forward. Chambers still managed to score 38 points in the game. TWC outrebounded Iowa 49-36. Haskins says I was simply playing the best players I had. 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. Arizona State cut the lead to 62-61 with five minutes remaining. Writing a decade later in his book, "Sports in America", James Michener "We didn't see Black and white. David Lattin led the Miners with 29 points. The Miners nursed the lead, pulling ahead to stay when Hill converted The color of the players' skin wasn't even mentioned in newspaper articles that followed. 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. Orsten Artis had 14 points, seven rebounds and Willie Worsley had 14 points and Harry Flournoy had seven rebounds. Rupp, who retired in 1972 with a 876-190 record, won four national championships and one NIT title. Texas Western smothered Tulsa defensively on Monday night, Jan. 3, 1966 the day the Miners first moved into the Associated Press national rankings. The 1966 Texas Western basketball team now the University of Texas at El. Texas Western took an early lead and never relinquished it on its way to a national championship. The Miners then turned on the gas, cutting the deficit to 10 points with 6:58 to go. Oh, it felt like yesterday, man, Cager said about returning to Cole Field House. Texas Western ripped Nevada 86-49 Wednesday night, Dec. 22, to easily win the Mississippi Valley Cage Classic in Rockland, Ill. That was exciting for him to do that, Armstrong said. Rapoport said former Georgetown coach John Thompson recalled Texas Western-Kentucky wasnt a big deal in the black community. outside the Southwest despite its 27-1 record and its No.3 ranking. had not earned degrees. 1965: Miners take second win over Fresno State. disciplined game of them all.". But Hill hit a long jumper and Shed dropped in a layup and the Miners never trailed again. Artis made seven-of-eight shots from the field and four-for-four from the free throw line. Your email address will not be published. Follow and read more from Jon Solomon on Facebook and Twitter. A crowd of just over 5,000 gathered at Las Cruces High more than half of them Miner fans to watch TWC improve to 23-0 on the season. Trying to win a basketball game.". "The players were just out there, doing what we were doing. The Miners, coming off a 21-day break for semester exams, picked up where they left off in steamrolling the Sun Devils. They quickly realized it would not be an ordinary game of basketball when five white Wildcats and five black Miners stepped on the court. March Madness fans will remember the 2020 tournament as the competition that never happened. Throughout the season, the Texas Western players faced racial discrimination and bullying. 1966: Seattle wins, 74-72, to end Miner string. The Miners were playing and winning their third road game in four outings on this Saturday night in south Texas. In an arena filled with white cheerleaders, referees, and officials, it seemed impossible that an all-black team just won the NCAA title. The win boosted Texas Western to a spotless 4-0 record and handed Weber State its first defeat, dropping the Wildcats to 3-1. This Day In 1966: Texas Western, featuring the first all-black starting lineup, beats Adolph Rupps Kentucky team to win NCAA title. 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. So, when it came to the championship game, Worsley said he wasn't thinking about Kentucky being white. "I call it a watershed moment in college athletics. Although the uprising was part of a larger one . Nevil Shed had to hoist up Willie Worsley so he could do the honors. court, he confronted his two guards about the steals," recalled Eddie How about that? Haskins replied, Same way I do white guys.. The Texas-Indian wars were a series of conflicts between settlers in Texas and the Southern Plains Indians during the 19th-century. Miner coach Don Haskins substituted liberally and used 10 players in the game. those racist myths. The "borrowed" alligator is then placed in Professor Quinn's Geology office. In fact, until Texas Western coach Don Haskins did. It was Arizona State's worst home loss in 10 years. violent game. 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. If your brains were dynamite, this place would be blown apart.. In fact, TWC will return home to Memorial Gym for the final home game of the season Saturday. and an Hispanic, none of whom played that night -- four graduated. His only defeat in an NCAA title game haunted Rupp. But even as the jubilant Miners celebrated a new set of myths was emerging. Wallace, who a year later at Vanderbilt became the first black basketball 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. Orsten Artis had 16, Bobby Joe Hill 14, Willie Cager 12, David Lattin 10 and Harry Flournoy 10. 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. The 72-65 victory over Kentucky in College Park, Maryland is considered one of the most important in the history of college basketball, as it marked the first time that a team with five African-American starters won a title game. The Miners, ranked fourth in the nation, improved to 17-0 on the season with Thursday's win. Princeton-Dartmouth on a Friday night in January. The name Texas derives from tysha, a word in the Caddoan language of the . On March 19, 1966, fans packed Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland, to watch the matchup between Kentucky and Texas Western. 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.. 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. "`They can do everything with "(Rupp) jumped up and called timeout, (and) as they were coming off the And those letters from the whites in the south, you can just imagine what they said. "Still, I'd seen enough," said Lattin, who went on to later write thebook "Slam Dunk to Glory." READ MORE: Linda Brown From Historic Brown v. Board Case Passes Away. snapped. It was like they just sat there, 'What are we going to write about?'". Lattin had 12, Artis and Harry Flournoy had 10 each. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. It looks more like Don Haskins, the coach who hastened the full integration of college basketball when he started five black players for Texas Western College against an all-white University of Kentucky team and. I made a point to listen to it for some strange reason, Vaccaro said. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The Miners led by as many as seven points in the first half but the Rams trimmed that lead to two, 43-41, at the half. Texas Western led 42-32 at the half and held the Lions to just 19 points in the final half, improving to 2-0 on the season. consecutive steals from Kentucky's guards. probably never crossed Don's mind," said his assistant, Moe Iba. The score was tied 2-2 just 74 seconds into the game. The shot was good but the trail official, right behind the play, signaled White was out of bounds. The game was played during an era of racial unrest and as the civil rights movement was gaining power. But Texas Western was faster, could pull down rebounds and steal a pass before Kentucky realized what was happening. She heldhis hand during the flight. 1966: AP rates TWC ninth in poll; Miners Defeat Tulsa. New Mexico led Texas Western 37-21 at the half and led by 20 points with 14:03 to play. "No longer couldthe excuse be used that Blacks were not smart enough, were undisciplined, could not work under pressure,could not follow directions and were not equipped to function on our own," Flournoy, a Texas Western starting five from Gary, Ind., wrotein his biography for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Willie Worsley led the Miners in scoring, hitting from the outside and finishing with 18 points. He called the Texas Western players "loose-jointed Texas Western held off a stiff challenge from Pan American Saturday night, Feb. 19, 1966, taking a 65-61 win in front of 1,400 fans in Edinburg, Texas. Unusual for its time, the NCAA broadcast the game in black and white on TV, as the New York Times reports. Don Haskins was not some rookie coach as the film portrays, he was in his fifth year at the school. a 16-11 advantage. 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. The win was the Miner's fifth of the season without a loss at Memorial Gym Friday night. It's true, Texas Western, ranked No. Willie Cager scored six of Texas Western's nine overtime points to lead the Miners past Cincinnati Friday night, March 11, 1966, in Lubbock. the sportswriters on press row. Orsten Artis had 13 points, Nevil Shed had 11 points, eight rebounds, Bobby Joe Hill had 11 and Harry Flournoy had eight rebounds. All-white leagues like the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southwestern Conference, and Southeastern Conference became integrated within the next two years. The Miners improved to 20-0 on the season and coach Don Haskins got his 100th career victory against only 25 losses. 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 6th-ranked Miners smothered West Texas State defensively to take a 69-50 win Saturday night, Jan. 29, 1966, in Memorial Gym. Utah's Jerry Chambers was the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player and the tournament's leading scorer with 143 points. Texas Western, ranked second in the nation, fell Saturday evening. [6] Also, they were not invited on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was customary for the NCAA Champions. Three on the road. renamed the University of Texas at El Paso. There was so little madness surrounding the 1965: TWC takes 67-47 win over Pan American. Until 1836, Texas had been part of Mexico, but in that year a group of settlers from the United States who lived in Mexican Texas declared independence. 1966 NCAA tournament: Bracket number of blacks on college teams jumped from 2.9 to 5.7. The following season, several college teams started to integrate. Game Writeup - by Gordon S. White, Jr.,New York Times. Texas Western players remember Pat Riley, a Kentucky star, coming into their locker room afterward to congratulate the Miners. Florida State started five "The beating was sound as well as thrilling," Frank Deford wrote in a "Sports Illustrated" story at the end of March 1966. "Isay it with love becauseyou couldn't tell the 12th person from the No. Bobby Joe Hill led the Miners with 24 points. 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. David Lattin added 11 points and Bobby Joe Hill had 10. have to change or become increasingly noncompetitive nationally," wrote The crowd is white. I knew it as the championship game. In fact, the nucleus had been on campus for a while, winning 18 games the year before while qualifying for the NIT in 1965. By then, even deep-South SEC schools like Auburn and It didn't win as many games as his . The meeting was swift and to the point. David Lattin and Willie Worsley made free throws and Hill made a driving layup. Adolph Rupp and his Kentucky players as Texas Western puts the championship game out of reach in 1966. After Texas Western beat Utah in the first semifinal, Lattin rushed out to watch Kentucky-Duke. championship game on. until Texas Western coach Don Haskins did it earlier that season, no But the Miners came right back, took the lead and led 43-37 at the half and never trailed again. Confederate flag as the Wildcats' five white players line up for the opening Still, Rupp held out. The exciting victory earned the Miners a spot in the NCAA Final Four along with Utah, Duke and Kentucky in College Park, Md. quasi-professionals imported from Northern cities to win Haskins a 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. The Miners, playing their fourth road game in their last five outings, were led by David Lattin with 22 points, seven rebounds. The victory, according to sportswriters, analysts and prognosticators was a watershed event because it encouraged other predominantly white schools to recruit African-American players, ending years of shameful and evil segregation. George Wallace to end his blockade so Black students could enroll at Alabama. Willie Cager scored in the second overtime to put the Miners up 73-71 and Nevil Shed made two free throws to push the Miners to a 75-71 lead. Texas Western overcame a slow start and a cold shooting night from the floor to edge Fresno State College, 75-73. 1966: TWC beats ASU, 84-67, breaks Tempe jinx. He was one of them. Fifty years ago, Texas Western started five black players Willie Worsley, Orsten Artis, Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin and Harry Flournoy against Kentucky in the N.C.A.A.

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