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

[4]

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

  1. http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/tag/texas-western, Basketball Hall of Fame, retrieved 2009-07-09
  2. Wetzel, Dan. "The Long and Winding road". Yahoo Sports. Yahoo Sports.
  3. Eagen, Matt. "Breaking the Barrier". Courant staff writer. The Courant.
  4. 1965-66 Statistics and Results, University of Texas at El Paso, retrieved 2009-07-09
  5. Haskins, Don (2006). Glory Road. New York: Hyperion. p. 153. ISBN 9781401307912.

External links

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