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History of Blacks Involved in NCAA Basketball

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History of Blacks Involved in NCAA Basketball

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Of course, basketball, like every other well-known American-made game, was designed to be for the more popular and favored white society of the early 1900s. The idea of blacks playing in an organized system of NCAA (any basketball in general but in specific terms...) basketball was viewed as outrageous for the pro-segregated crowd of Whites. It was common for Whites to have their moments of glory when the Black/African American population would sit and watch on the sidelines. "In 1905, after being exposed to the game over the summer at Harvard University, Coach Edwin B. Henderson introduced basketball to a physical education class at Howard University in Washington, D. C. By 1910, basketball was one of the most popular sports among young African-Americans... could be played on almost any surface, and it required little or no equipment. It was promoted largely in the Young Men’s Christian Associations....  in Black neighborhoods... basketball courts indoors and outdoors... parks and on playgrounds" (African American Registry). By 1915, African-Americans played basketball in high school physical education classes, on college and university squads, and on club teams representing major urban cities. Some of the first predominantly Black universities to form basketball squads include Hampton University in Virginia, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Wilberforce University in Ohio, and Virginia Union in Richmond. 1919: The all-Black Southeastern Athletic Conference was established, and by 1928 there were four all-Black regional conferences. Regional competition produced a flood of excitement as teams battled on college campuses, in city parks and on high school varsity teams. From history surging throughout the early to mid 1900s, the NCAA basketball world has changed from excluding all blacks from the game of basketball, to allowing each aspiring talent from (in certain cases) struggling environments, to play against the worlds best college basketball talent (some but not all players will go to the NBA). The game of basketball, whether people will admit it or not, is and always have been influenced by different races and ethnicities to create a game so pretty when we all learn to put "differences" aside and play the game of basketball.

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The 1966 Championship Miners squad consisted of a roster of: Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin, Orsten Artis, Nevil Shed, Harry Flournoy, Willie Worsley, Willie Cager, Louis Baudoin, Jerry Armstrong, David Palacio, Dick Myers, and Togo Railey.

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Coach Don Haskins. His coaching career began with UTEP during the 1961-1962, coming off an experienced coaching background at Benjamin High School, Texas (1955), and Haskins also headed the basketball programs at Hedley (Texas) High School from 1956-60 and Dumas (Texas) High School from 1960-61. Playing at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), Coach Haskins had a diverse background of basketball experience going into the complex coaching job at UTEP. His first UTEP Miner squad notched an 18-6 record. His second UTEP team posted a 19-7 mark during the 1962-63 campaign and made the first of Haskins' 14 NCAA Tournament appearances. Haskins' teams captured WAC championships in 1970, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1992, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1975, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1992. Haskins was not the one to care about race, regardless of the condensed society he lived and coached in, Haskins was brought to the program to bring only one thing to the program. Haskins, with his long lasting reign as a head coach, gave the UTEP miners the success that they longed for. On March 19, 1966, Coach Haskins was quoted to say:
"I really didn't think about starting five black guys. I just wanted to put my five best guys on the court," Haskins said. "I just wanted to win that game."

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It was a shock wave in Division I recruiting. The successes of that team, coming off an aspiring season; being viewed in the eyes of white society and "looking down" on black individuals, coaches from all over the nation began to take notice. Schools started heavily recruiting black athletes; southern states of the nation more specifically. It would end this hateful and shameful reign of segregation in college basketball.

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History was made. At the University of Maryland's Cole Field House, the first all-black lineup was formed in an NCAA Championship game. The game was set between the UTEP Miners and Kentucky Wildcats on March 19,1966. From the the Miners outstanding play, regardless of the hate and disliking popularity of the American population, they won the game 72-65 for the national title. From the popular dislike of the segregated UTEP team, no one brought a ladder to the team to cut down the net in glory after their national title win.

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The mid-1960s. The Civil Rights Movement to end all racial segregation was in full effect. Including the court case of: Brown v. Board of Education, and the later added Civil Rights Act of 1964,  the normality of the common "white schools," particularly in the South, was still prominent during this Civil Rights Movement. However, regardless of the influence of segregation on most southern schools, in the desert city of El Paso, segregation was not an issue for the UTEP basketball team... winning was.