Conference Independent 1965–66 record 28-1 Assistant coach Moe Iba | AP No. 3 Head coach Don Haskins 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.
Contents
The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and inspired the book and film Glory Road.
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. 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.
Race issues throughout the season
The Texas Western Basketball team faced race issues 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.