1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball

NCAA tournament National champions
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	28–1
Head coach	Don Haskins (5th season)
Assistant coach	Moe Iba (4th season)
Home arena	Memorial Gym
Seasons ← 1964–65 1966–67 →

1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
v t e	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

Don Haskins (Oklahoma A&M)

Assistant coach(es)

Moe Iba (Oklahoma State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

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]

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

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

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.

v t e Texas Western Miners basketball 1965–66 NCAA champions
11 Willie Cager 14 Bobby Joe Hill 23 Orsten Artis 24 Willie Worsley 33 Nevil Shed 42 Dave Lattin 44 Harry Flournoy Head coach Don Haskins Assistant coach Moe Iba

v t e UTEP Miners men's basketball
Venues	Holliday Hall (1933-1961) Memorial Gymnasium (1961–1976) Don Haskins Center (1976–present)
Rivalries	New Mexico State
Culture & lore	Paydirt Pete Glory Road "Miners Fight"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championship in bold

v t e Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2007
Coaches	Van Chancellor Pedro Ferrándiz Phil Jackson Mirko Novosel Roy Williams
Referees	Mendy Rudolph
Teams	1965–66 Texas Western Miners

Members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Players

Guards	R. Allen Archibald Beckman Belov Bing Blazejowski Borgmann Braun Brennan Bryant Cervi Cheeks Clayton Cooper-Dyke Cousy Dampier Davies Drexler Dumars Edwards Endacott Frazier Friedman Galis Gervin Ginóbili Goodrich Greer Grentz Guerin Hammon Hanson Hardaway Haynes Holman Hyatt Isaacs Iverson Jeannette Jenkins D. Johnson M. Johnson K. Jones S. Jones Jordan Kidd Lieberman Maravich Marcari Marčiulionis Martin McDermott McGrady D. McGuire Meyers R. Miller Moncrief Monroe Moore C. Murphy Nash Page Parker Payton Petrović Phillip Posey Richmond Robertson Rodgers Roosma J. Russell Schommer Scott Sedran Sharman K. Smith Staley Steinmetz Stockton Swoopes Thomas D. Thompson Vandivier Wade Wanzer Weatherspoon West Westphal J. White Wilkens Woodard Wooden
Forwards	Arizin Barkley Barry Baylor Bird Bosh Boswell Bradley R. Brown Cash Catchings C. Cooper Cunningham Curry Dalipagić Dandridge Dantley DeBusschere Dehnert Duncan English Erving Foster Fulks Gale Garnett Gasol Gates Gola Hagan Havlicek Hawkins Hayes Haywood Heinsohn Hill Howell Hudson L. Jackson G. Johnson B. Jones King Korać Kukoč Lucas Luisetti K. Malone McClain B. McCracken J. McCracken McGinnis McHale Mikkelsen C. Miller Mullin Nowitzki Pettit Pierce Pippen Pollard Pullins Radja Ramsey Rodman Schayes E. Schmidt O. Schmidt Stokes C. Thompson T. Thompson Twyman Walker Webber N. White Wilkes Wilkins Worthy Yardley
Centers	Abdul-Jabbar Barlow Beaty Bellamy Chamberlain T. Cooper Ćosić Cowens Crawford Daniels DeBernardi Divac Donovan Ewing Gallatin Gilmore Griffith Gruenig Harris-Stewart Houbregs Issel Jackson W. Johnson Johnston M. Krause Kurland Lanier Leslie Lovellette Lapchick Macauley Maciel M. Malone McAdoo Meneghin Mikan Mourning S. Murphy Mutombo Olajuwon O'Neal Parish Reed Risen Robinson B. Russell Sabonis Sampson Semjonova Sikma Thurmond Unseld Wachter Wallace Walton Washington Whalen Yao

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball champions
1939 Oregon 1940 Indiana 1941 Wisconsin 1942 Stanford 1943 Wyoming 1944 Utah 1945 Oklahoma A&M 1946 Oklahoma A&M 1947 Holy Cross 1948 Kentucky 1949 Kentucky 1950 CCNY 1951 Kentucky 1952 Kansas 1953 Indiana 1954 La Salle 1955 San Francisco 1956 San Francisco 1957 North Carolina 1958 Kentucky 1959 California 1960 Ohio State 1961 Cincinnati 1962 Cincinnati 1963 Loyola (IL) 1964 UCLA 1965 UCLA 1966 Texas Western 1967 UCLA 1968 UCLA 1969 UCLA 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 UCLA 1974 NC State 1975 UCLA 1976 Indiana 1977 Marquette 1978 Kentucky 1979 Michigan State 1980 Louisville 1981 Indiana 1982 North Carolina 1983 NC State 1984 Georgetown 1985 Villanova 1986 Louisville 1987 Indiana 1988 Kansas 1989 Michigan 1990 UNLV 1991 Duke 1992 Duke 1993 North Carolina 1994 Arkansas 1995 UCLA 1996 Kentucky 1997 Arizona 1998 Kentucky 1999 Connecticut 2000 Michigan State 2001 Duke 2002 Maryland 2003 Syracuse 2004 Connecticut 2005 North Carolina 2006 Florida 2007 Florida 2008 Kansas 2009 North Carolina 2010 Duke 2011 Connecticut 2012 Kentucky 2013 Louisville (Vacated) 2014 UConn 2015 Duke 2016 Villanova 2017 North Carolina 2018 Villanova 2019 Virginia 2020 No tournament 2021 Baylor 2022 Kansas 2023 UConn 2024 UConn

NCAA Division I men's basketball champions