The team that changed the face of basketball
By Joan Harrell
For the St. Louis American
The recently released Disney Productions film Glory Road is an inspirational must-see. Based on the true story of University of Texas – El Paso (then known as Texas Western) men’s basketball coach, Don Haskins, and his 1966 NCAA Champion Miners, who won the title against the highly favored, and all white, University of Kentucky Wildcats. The story delves into much more than just the game of basketball. As the white coach of a predominantly black college basketball team during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Haskins must figure out how to create a cohesive team despite racial tension amongst players and win in the face of adversity and social change. Glory Road is a story of courage, teamwork, discipline, heart and determination.
The setting of the film is El Paso, Texas in 1965 when Congress had just passed the landmark Civil Rights Act and the NBA had nowhere near the amount of black players it boasts today. Opportunities for talented black players to play on or against white teams were limited and racism kept many benched or out of the game altogether.
Coach Haskins, portrayed by rising young actor Josh Lucas, made his mark on the nation with a vision for the game of basketball that valued players based not on their skin color, but only on their talent and potential. Literally speaking, Haskins’ decision to recruit black players for the Miners team forever changed the face of basketball and helped open doors for black athletes in college sports.
A former high school girls basketball coach, Haskins has his work cut out for him when he took on the losing Miners team, but he was up for the challenge. Not able to recruit any white players from other schools, Haskins did what no other white coach had the guts to do. He scouted black players, and when he found them, he actually let them play. Haskins recruited raw, black talent from the streets of Detroit and New York and returned to El Paso with seven black players eager to make their mark on collegiate basketball.
Haskins was able to bring his black and white players together to win the 1966 NCAA championship after a tough and, at times, disheartening journey down a glory road littered with malicious racist behavior, narrow-minded bigotry and resistance to change. The film takes the audience through a maze of emotions from anger and hatred to joy and love. Love not only for the team, but also for the coach and most importantly for the game.
Glory Road is an uplifting, heart warming eye opener featuring a cast of veterans like academy award winner and four-time Oscar nominee, Jon Voight, who portrays Wildcats head coach Adolph Rupp. The film also features Antwone Fisher star Derek Luke as
Bobby Joe Hill, the Miners rebellious main guard. Bobby Joe brought a street swagger to the game that proved to be unstoppable as he led the Miners as the highest scorer in three of five of the 1966 NCAA Championship games. Actress Tatyana Ali, best known for her stint on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, rounds out the cast as Hill’s supportive girlfriend.
Under Haskins’ tough and rigorous training, the Miners became not only a force to be reckoned with, but also a cohesive and well-respected championship team. Haskins became a hero, respected and admired by his colleagues for his vision, courage and overwhelming personality. In 1997, Haskins was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the Hollywood producer behind blockbusters like Remember the Titans, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pearl Harbor and Armageddon, Glory Road is worth seeing and destined to become a Disney classic.
