1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team
1965–66 UTEP Miners men's basketball | |
---|---|
Conference | Independent |
Ranking | |
AP | No. 3 |
1965–66 record | 28-1 |
Head coach | Don Haskins |
Assistant coach | Moe Iba |
Home arena | Memorial Gym |
The 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and was coached by Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins. The team made history by winning the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to win an NCAA basketball national championship, a feat that was not considered likely by many. The Miners defeated Kentucky (a team that was all white until 1969) 72-65 in the historic championship game, played at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966.
The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007[1] and inspired the book and film Glory Road.
Roster
Name | # | Position | Height | Year | Home Town |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jerry Armstrong | 21/52 | Forward | 6- | Senior | Eagleville, MO |
Orsten Artis | 20/23 | Guard | 6-1 | Senior | Gary, IN |
Louis Baudoin | 22/54 | Forward | 6-7 | Junior | Albuquerque, NM |
Willie Cager | 10/11 | Forward | 6-5 | Sophomore | New York City, NY |
Harry Flournoy | 44 | Forward | 6-5 | Senior | Gary, IN |
Bobby Joe Hill | 14 | Guard | 5-10 | Junior | Detroit, MI |
David Lattin | 42/43 | Center | 6-6 | Sophomore | Houston, TX |
Dick Myers | 31/40 | Forward | 6-4 | Junior | Peabody, KS |
Dave Palacio | 15 | Guard | 6-2 | Sophomore | El Paso, TX |
Togo Railey | 25/30 | Guard | 6-0 | Junior | El Paso, TX |
Nevil Shed | 32/33 | Center | 6-3 | Junior | New York City, NY |
Willie Worsley | 24 | Guard | 5-6 | Sophomore | New York City, NY |
After the championship
The 1965-1966 Texas Western basketball team faced many issues because of their color. For example, when they won the championship 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.[2] Also they were never invited on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which was customary for the NCAA Champions. Texas Western (UTEP) winning the championship, started the integration of the Southeastern Conference admitting their first black basketball player in 1967.[3]
Schedule
Date Time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site City, State | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1965/12/04* no, no |
Eastern New Mexico | W 89-38 | 1-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/09* no, no |
East Texas State | W 73-51 | 2-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/11* no, no |
Pan American | W 67-47 | 3-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/14* no, no |
Weber State | W 74-63 | 4-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/17* no, no |
Fresno State | W 75-73 | 5-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/18* no, no |
Fresno State | W 83-65 | 6-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/21* no, no |
vs. South Dakota Rock Island Tournament |
W 88-42 | 7-0 |
Rock Island, IL | |||||||
1965/12/22* no, no |
vs. Nevada Rock Island Tournament |
W 86-49 | 8-0 |
Rock Island, IL | |||||||
1965/12/29* no, no |
Loyola (New Orleans) | W 93-56 | 9-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1965/12/30* no, no |
#4 Iowa | W 86-68 | 10-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1966/01/03* no, no |
Tulsa | W 63-54 | 11-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | |||||||
1966/01/06* no, no |
No. 9 | Seattle | W 76-64 | 12-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | ||||||
1966/01/27* no, no |
No. 6 | at Arizona State | W 84-67 | 13-0 |
Tempe, AZ | ||||||
1966/01/29* no, no |
No. 6 | West Texas State | W 69-50 | 14-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | ||||||
1966/02/01* no, no |
No. 6 | New Mexico State | W 104-78 | 15-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | ||||||
1966/02/04* no, no |
No. 6 | at Colorado State | W 68-66 | 16-0 |
Fort Collins, CO | ||||||
1966/02/10* no, no |
No. 4 | at Arizona | W 81-72 | 17-0 |
Bear Down Gym Tucson, AZ | ||||||
1966/02/12* no, no |
No. 4 | at New Mexico | W 67-64OT | 18-0 |
Johnson Gymnasium Albuquerque, NM | ||||||
1966/02/14* no, no |
No. 4 | Arizona State | W 69-67 | 19-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | ||||||
1966/02/19* no, no |
No. 3 | at Texas–Pan American | W 65-61 | 20-0 |
Edinburg, TX | ||||||
1966/02/24* no, no |
No. 3 | at West Texas State | W 78-64 | 21-0 |
Canyon, TX | ||||||
1966/02/26* no, no |
No. 3 | Colorado State | W 72-55 | 22-0 |
Memorial Gym El Paso, TX | ||||||
1966/03/02* no, no |
No. 2 | at New Mexico State | W 73-56 | 23-0 |
Las Cruces High School Las Cruces, NM | ||||||
1966/03/05* no, no |
No. 2 | at Seattle | L 72-74 | 23-1 |
Seattle, WA | ||||||
NCAA Tournament | |||||||||||
1966/03/06* no, no |
No. 2 | vs. Oklahoma City NCAA Midwest Regional Quarterfinal |
W 89-74 | 24-1 |
WSU Fieldhouse Wichita, KS | ||||||
1966/03/11* no, no |
No. 3 | vs. Cincinnati NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal |
W 78-76OT | 25-1 |
Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX | ||||||
1966/03/12* no, no |
No. 3 | vs. #4 Kansas NCAA Midwest Regional Final |
W 81-802OT | 26-1 |
Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX | ||||||
1966/03/18* no, no |
No. 3 | vs. Utah NCAA National Semifinal |
W 85-78 | 27-1 |
Cole Field House College Park, MD | ||||||
1966/03/19* no, no |
No. 3 | vs. #1 Kentucky NCAA National Final |
W 72-65 | 28-1 |
Cole Field House College Park, MD | ||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. |
Racism throughout the season
The Texas Western Basketball team faced racism throughout the season, both on and off the court. For example, officials calling the games were often biased against the team because they had an all-Black starting lineup; many officials favored those teams that kept at least one white player on the court at all times. In the last game of the regular season, against Seattle, Bobby Joe Hill cut to the basket and was knocked down by a Seattle player when he went up for a shot, but no foul was called; in fact, no fouls were called on Seattle the entire game.[5]
References
- ↑ http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/tag/texas-western, Basketball Hall of Fame, retrieved 2009-07-09
- ↑ Wetzel, Dan. "The Long and Winding road". Yahoo Sports. Yahoo Sports.
- ↑ Eagen, Matt. "Breaking the Barrier". Courant staff writer. The Courant.
- ↑ 1965-66 Statistics and Results, University of Texas at El Paso, retrieved 2009-07-09
- ↑ Haskins, Don (2006). Glory Road. New York: Hyperion. p. 153. ISBN 9781401307912.