I am hoping to watch a broadcast of the 1966 U of Kentucky vs. Texas Western University (now known as U of Texas-
El Paso) game this week on ESPN. What a historic moment! Yes, the fact that TWU had 5 black starters made the game historic (also because they interrupted UCLA’s incredible winning streak), but perhaps even more notable was that the prevailing opinion at the time was that the TWU players didn’t have the right to be in the championship game. That they were not worthy; not intellectually gifted as to understand the nuances of winning basketball and teamwork. That was UK Coach Adolph Rupp’s (a notorious bigot) belief that he carried to his dying day. And a few black folks believed that TWU coach Don Haskins was exploiting his black players as a publicity stunt.
No, Texas Western 1966 is important because Coach Haskins took those youngsters and made successful men out of them; both on the court and in life. He knew they could do it and he taught them to show the world, on the court and off.
If you can find it, perhaps on You Tube, watch elite NBA coach Pat Riley’s interview about the 1966 game. Riley was a starter for U of Kentucky that season. In the interview Coach Riley said, after he was the victim of a emotional and monster dunk shot by TWU,…‘no way we were going to win that game. It was over in the first few minutes.’