1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team

1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record28–1
Head coach
Assistant coachMoe Iba (4th season)
Home arenaMemorial Gym
Seasons
1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Texas Western –   – 28 – 1   .966
No. 6 Loyola Chicago –   – 22 – 3   .880
Oklahoma City –   – 24 – 5   .828
Providence –   – 22 – 5   .815
Boston College –   – 21 – 5   .808
Dayton –   – 23 – 6   .793
Houston –   – 23 – 6   .793
Fairfield –   – 19 – 5   .792
VPI –   – 19 – 5   .792
Syracuse –   – 22 – 6   .786
Hardin–Simmons –   – 20 – 6   .769
Penn State –   – 18 – 6   .750
Rutgers –   – 17 – 7   .708
St. Bonaventure –   – 16 – 7   .696
Army –   – 18 – 8   .692
DePaul –   – 18 – 8   .692
St. John's –   – 18 – 8   .692
Detroit –   – 17 – 8   .680
Georgetown –   – 16 – 8   .667
Colorado State –   – 14 – 8   .636
Villanova –   – 18 – 11   .621
Butler –   – 16 – 10   .615
Seattle –   – 16 – 10   .615
Duquesne –   – 14 – 9   .609
Miami (FL) –   – 15 – 11   .577
Denver –   – 14 – 11   .560
Florida State –   – 14 – 11   .560
Air Force –   – 14 – 12   .538
Crieghton –   – 14 – 12   .538
Marquette –   – 14 – 12   .538
Georgia Tech –   – 13 – 13   .500
Xavier –   – 13 – 13   .500
Loyola (LA) –   – 12 – 12   .500
Centenary –   – 12 – 14   .462
Utah State –   – 12 – 14   .462
Niagara –   – 11 – 13   .458
Holy Cross –   – 10 – 13   .435
Fordham –   – 10 – 15   .400
Memphis State –   – 10 – 15   .400
Navy –   – 7 – 12   .368
Colgate –   – 8 – 14   .364
Canisius –   – 7 – 15   .318
Saint Francis (PA) –   – 8 – 18   .308
West Texas State –   – 6 – 17   .261
Portland –   – 6 – 19   .240
Pittsburgh –   – 5 – 17   .227
Notre Dame –   – 5 – 21   .192
Boston University –   – 4 – 19   .174
New Mexico State –   – 4 – 22   .154
Rankings from AP Poll

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. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so.[1] The Miners only lost one game, a road loss to Seattle by two points. They won their games by an average of 15.2 points.

The Miners beat Kentucky (an all-white program until 1969) 72–65 in the historic championship game, played on Saturday, March 19, at Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C.[2][3][4]

The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 [5] and inspired the book and film Glory Road.

Roster

1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 10 Willie Cager 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
 So New York City, NY
G 14 Bobby Joe Hill 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
—
 Jr Detroit, MI
G 15 Dave Palacio 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
—
 So El Paso, TX
F 52 Jerry Armstrong 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 Sr Eagleville, MO
F 22 Louis Baudoin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
—
 Jr Albuquerque, NM
G 20 Orsten Artis 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
 Sr Gary, IN
G 24 Willie Worsley 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
—
 So New York City, NY
G 25 Togo Railey 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
—
 Jr El Paso, TX
F 31 Dick Myers 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 Jr Peabody, KS
C 32 Nevil Shed 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
—
 Jr New York City, NY
C 43 David Lattin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
—
 So Houston, TX
F 44 Harry Flournoy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
 Sr Gary, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

After the championship

The 1965–66 Texas Western basketball team faced many issues due to racism. 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.[6] Also, they were not invited on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was customary for the NCAA Champions. Texas Western's (UTEP's) winning the basketball national championship helped promote the desegregation of athletics in the Southeastern Conference which had its first black basketball player in 1967.[7]

As for their professional outlooks following this season, only one of the players from this team (David Lattin) would end up playing in the NBA, being selected as a Top 10 pick by the San Francisco Warriors in the 1967 NBA draft. After spending a year in San Francisco, he would be called up by the Phoenix Suns in the 1968 NBA expansion draft and play a season with them before spending the rest of his professional career in the early 1970s in the rivaling upstart American Basketball Association, playing his final years with the Pittsburgh Condors and Memphis Tams before retiring in 1973. Another player named Willie Worsley would later join the ABA, though he would play for the New York Nets in only the second season of the ABA's existence before retiring altogether. A couple of other players in Willie Cager and Nevil Shed would also get drafted in the NBA as well, though unlike with Lattin, neither would play in the NBA properly. Finally, the rest of the roster would not even touch the NBA or the ABA themselves following this season onward.

Schedule

[8]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular Season
December 4, 1965*
 Eastern New Mexico W 89–38  1–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
December 9, 1965*
 East Texas State W 73–51  2–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
December 11, 1965*
 Pan American W 67–47  3–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
December 14, 1965*
 Weber State W 74–63  4–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
December 17, 1965*
 Fresno State W 75–73  5–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
December 18, 1965*
 Fresno State W 83–65  6–0
 Memorial Gym (4,601)
El Paso, TX
December 21, 1965*
 vs. South Dakota
Mississippi Valley Cage Classic First round 		W 88–42  7–0
 Rock Island Fieldhouse 
Rock Island, IL
December 22, 1965*
 vs. Nevada
Mississippi Valley Cage Classic Championship 		W 86–49  8–0
 Rock Island Fieldhouse (3,600)
Rock Island, IL
December 29, 1965*
 Loyola (LA)
Sun Bowl Tournament 		W 93–56  9–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
December 30, 1965*
 No. 4 Iowa
Sun Bowl Tournament 		W 86–68  10–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
January 3, 1966*
 Tulsa W 63–54  11–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
January 6, 1966*
 No. 9 Seattle W 76–64  12–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
January 27, 1966*
 No. 6 at Arizona State W 84–67  13–0
 Sun Devil Gym 
Tempe, AZ
January 29, 1966*
 No. 6 West Texas State W 69–50  14–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
February 1, 1966*
 No. 6 New Mexico State W 104–78  15–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
February 4, 1966*
 No. 6 at Colorado State W 68–66  16–0
 South College Gymnasium 
Fort Collins, CO
February 10, 1966*
 No. 4 at Arizona W 81–72  17–0
 Bear Down Gym 
Tucson, AZ
February 12, 1966*
 No. 4 at New Mexico W 67–64 OT 18–0
 Johnson Gymnasium 
Albuquerque, NM
February 14, 1966*
 No. 4 Arizona State W 69–67  19–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
February 19, 1966*
 No. 3 at Pan American W 65–61  20–0
  
Edinburg, TX
February 24, 1966*
 No. 3 at West Texas State W 78–64  21–0
  
Canyon, TX
February 26, 1966*
 No. 3 Colorado State W 72–55  22–0
 Memorial Gym 
El Paso, TX
March 2, 1966*
 No. 2 at New Mexico State W 73–56  23–0
 Las Cruces High School 
Las Cruces, NM
March 5, 1966*
 No. 2 at Seattle L 72–74  23–1
 Seattle Center Coliseum 
Seattle, WA
NCAA Tournament
March 6, 1966*
 No. 2 vs. Oklahoma City
Regional quarterfinal 		W 89–74  24–1
 WSU Fieldhouse 
Wichita, KS
March 11, 1966*
 No. 3 vs. Cincinnati
Regional semifinal 		W 78–76 OT 25–1
 Lubbock Municipal Coliseum 
Lubbock, TX
March 12, 1966*
 No. 3 vs. No. 4 Kansas
Elite Eight 		W 81–80 2OT 26–1
 Lubbock Municipal Coliseum 
Lubbock, TX
March 18, 1966*
 No. 3 vs. Utah
National semifinal 		W 85–78  27–1
 Cole Field House (14,253)
College Park, MD
March 19, 1966*
 No. 3 vs. No. 1 Kentucky
National Championship 		W 72–65  28–1
 Cole Field House (14,253)
College Park, MD
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain time.

References

  1. ^ "Texas Western defeats Kentucky in NCAA final". History.com. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "Texas Western shocks Kentucky in final". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 1B.
  3. ^ "Hill and friends flummox favored Kentucky by 72-65". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 20, 1966. p. 1, sports.
  4. ^ Buttram, Bill (March 21, 1966). "Texas Western's 'game' beats Kentucky". Free Lance-Star. (Fredericksburg, Virginia). p. 12.
  5. ^ "Hall Of Famers – 1966 Texas Western". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  6. ^ Wetzel, Dan. "The Long and Winding road". Yahoo Sports.
  7. ^ Eagen, Matt. "Breaking the Barrier". Courant staff writer. The Courant.
  8. ^ 1965–66 Statistics and Results Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, University of Texas at El Paso, retrieved 2009-07-09

Further reading

  • Fitzpatrick, Frank. And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Basketball Game That Changed American Sports (2000)
  • Haskins, Don with Dan Wetzel. Glory Road: My Story of the 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship and How One Team Triumphed Against the Odds and Changed America Forever. New York:Hyperion, 2006. 254 pp. No index. ISBN 1-4013-0791-4.
  • Hutchison, Phillip. "The legend of Texas Western: journalism and the epic sports spectacle that wasn’t." Critical Studies in Media Communication 33.2 (2016): 154–167.
  • Sanchez, Ramon. Basketball's Biggest Upset: Texas Western Changed The Sport With A Win Over Kentucky In 1966 (1991) excerpt, game by game details—and play-by-play for championship game.