MARCH 19, 1966
Texas Western, the first NCAA championship basketball team to have five blacks on the starting lineup, defeated an all-white University of Kentucky team.
In the beginning there were Orsten Artis, Harry Flournoy, Bobby Joe Hill, David Latin and Willie Worsley. It was basketball’s David against a mighty Goliath in the form of Kentucky and its vaunted coach, Adolph Rapp, whose teams had already won four national championships.
Before the game, coach Don Haskins told his players that Rupp had promised that the five black starters would never beat his team. They took it personally and imposed their will on Kentucky with tough defense, interceptions and sharp shooting.
“It was a tough game” recalled Kentucky player Pat Riley. “I don’t mean there were any fights, but they were desperate, they were committed and they were more motivated than we were.”
The win helped end racist stereotypes in basketball and changed the game forever. Nolan Richardson, who played for Texas Western under coach Dan Haskins, said of the game, “What a piece of history. If basketball ever took a turn, this was it.” Soon, schools that had long closed their doors to black athletes began offering athletic scholarships. Over the next two decades, the average number of black players on college teams nearly doubled. 2006 movie Road of Gloryrecreated the events that led to the famous game.
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