The Team That Changed the Game

The most important college basketball game of all time was played by the University of Texas at El Paso and the Kentucky Wildcats. Coach Don Haskins (UTEP) started five black players in the 1966 NCAA title game. This was a time where the South did not play black players at all. The only black players you would see playing were in the North and there was still not that many. Don Haskins recruited talent, not color and that is why the sport has changed so much over the years. People started to realize how influential the African-American race can be to the sport of basketball. They had the speed, the athleticism and strength to play the game. More and more blacks started to be recruited by different colleges, and not soon after, the game became a non-racist community. The Kentucky Wildcats, coached by Adolf Rupp were an all white team and were the favorites to win the game.

The video is the ending to the movie "Glory Road" and it shows the team of five black players winning the championship. They were the underdogs going into the game and everyone was shocked when they had beaten the Wildcats. Adolf Rupp couldn't believe that his team had lost. The movie was all about the 1966 UTEP basketball team and how their season changed basketball forever. Don Haskins was the main influential person in all of this because he did the recruiting. He wanted talent, not color.