What still strikes everyone who remembers Texas Western’s 1966 national champions is that after 60 years, that team still strikes such a chord.
Not everyone realized at the time all the broader implications of what Texas Western did in 1966, but with the benefit of hindsight and history, the team still fuels immense pride in perhaps El Paso’s finest moments.
UTEP celebrated the anniversary of the title that changed American sports Wednesday, April 1, with a screening of the movie “Glory Road,” in front of 600 cheering, enthusiastic fans in Memorial Gym that included surviving team members Louis Baudoin and Togo Railey, and Schinn Kerr, the actor who played David Lattin in the movie.
Nevil Shed, one of the stars of the first team to win a national championship with an all-Black starting lineup, was there in spirit, though not in person. He had long-standing plans to come from his home in San Antonio (he works for the San Antonio Spurs) but got derailed by a hospital stay to remove kidney stones and can’t travel at the moment.
But he knows what this anniversary means.
Nevil Shed: Still ‘top of the charts’
“Sixty years!” Shed said from his home in San Antonio. “I’m still amazed to see how it’s on top of the charts. All the history and what it did not just for El Paso, San Antonio and the great state of Texas, but a lot of people.
“What we did without even thinking about it, we opened the doors to a lot of minorities that can qualify to attend any university of their choice. It would have happened eventually, but we helped it along a little quicker.”
The other surviving members, Lattin and Willie Worsley, were unable to attend. Of course, no one was there more in spirit than the Bear, coach Don Haskins, who passed away in 2008.
Shed’s “without even thinking about it” line does have meaning.
Tina Hill: ‘We didn’t take it as a racial thing’
Tina Hill, the widow of star point guard Bobby Joe Hill who has lived in El Paso the last 22 years, said her memory of the team was its camaraderie, not the all-Black starters.
“We didn’t take it as a racial thing,” she said from her reserved seat in the front row of Memorial Gym next to her daughter. “The press blew it up. We always loved each other, the community embraced us, we never had a problem. We didn’t know it until we read about it.
“The guys loved each other. They were a team. And what’s not to love in El Paso? Good food, good people, a friendly town and I love the culture. I embrace it.”
UTEP super fan Jamie “Pinky” Arrieta had similar sentiments.
“What I remember in 1966, I was a 12-year-old from Socorro, and the crowd was just crazy,” he said. “We didn’t see the color of the players, we saw the color of the jersey and the name on the jersey. To us they were the Texas Western Miners, not whatever.”
But … “It changed college sports overall, that’s what makes me so proud,” Arrieta said.
JD Brownfield moved to El Paso in 1966 as a junior girl at Irvin High (she was in a military family) and was a perfect age to grasp the excitement of Texas Western’s title run, even though she didn’t completely grasp the history at the time.
“No, no idea,” she said. “I was a teenage girl, we saw it on the news and talked about it, but I didn’t know anything about basketball. But when we got here it was phenomenal. That’s all we talked about, the championship game. Then I went to UTEP, became an alum and I used to sit in this room a lot to watch basketball with Haskins.”
Now what does she think about the history?
“It was way cool,” Brownfield said. “I’m so glad they made the movie. I’m so glad they thought enough of the book and the story and knew enough about Haskins. He and his wife Mary were pillars in this community and I’m so glad they get the recognition.”
Actor Schinn Kerr fired up to ‘play a hero’
Though Kerr was a generation removed from the events when he played Lattin in the movie, he was exactly a generation removed. His father and his uncle, who were twins, were freshmen basketball players at Colorado State in 1966 when they saw Texas Western beat the Rams (under NCAA rules at the time freshmen weren’t allowed to play in games).
“To be able to sit here as a black man, with the opportunities I’ve had in life because of the men on this team, to see the ripple effects of what one team can do, it gives you a different outlook on life,” Kerr said. “One of the main aspects of the movie is be kind, be respectful, we’re all different.”
As for playing Lattin, “It’s still unbelievable,” said Kerr, who played basketball collegiately for another pioneer for Black athletes, Loyola-Chicago, and later played professionally. “Glory Road” was his only acting credit. “They are heroes in our household and when you get an opportunity to play a hero, there are no words you can put to that.”
By the way, Kerr’s father and uncle later played in Memorial Gym and beat UTEP. Kerr is now coach and director for Brook Town Force, a youth organization in Chicago.
UTEP volleyball star Danika Washington thrilled to follow in the footprints
One of the younger people in the crowd was recent UTEP alum Danika Washington, a star on the volleyball team that now calls Memorial Gym home. Obviously, the history of the ’66 team has special meaning for Washington, who created some of the great memories in Memorial Gym since the basketball team moved out in 1977.
“Being in El Paso where we’re diverse and minority cultured, this means a lot,” Washington said. “Being an all-Black (starting lineup) and being Black myself, big representation. It’s footprints we’re following behind.”
Frank Corral, also a generation removed from 1966, was there with his wife Vanessa and his two children, one of whom (Carmelo) runs track for the Miners. They all had a chance to see dad “drinking in a bar,” as he was an extra in the movie, in a bar scene.
“I’d hear the stories of my dad talking about the history of the ’66 team, it was cool to be a part of it in two ways: seeing the movie and seeing how it was made,” he said.
Vanessa Corral was proud of the portrayal of El Paso in the movie.
“We’re a culture that embraces every kind of culture,” she said. “To know that Don Haskins brought that to life, displayed it and showcased it to all of the United States is pretty awesome.”
22-year-old moviegoer: ‘They persevered’
James Webb-Sosa, a 22-year-old, was one of the few people in Memorial Gym seeing the movie for the first time.
“They persevered,” was his takeaway about the 1966 team. “They didn’t listen to the doubters, the naysayers who said they couldn’t do it because of who they are, ‘they weren’t allowed.’ They decided to say, ‘No, we’re going to take our chance.’ They went for gold and look what’s happening now: a full-on anniversary for these great men.”
Baudoin lived it all 60 years ago, but he seems just as stunned by how old the movie is.
“I’m shocked the movie was made 20 years ago, I was barely born,” he joked. “It’s great we could do this and open it up to the public.”
After 60 years since Texas Western’s moment on the top, after 20 years since the movie, Wednesday was a night to celebrate.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: ‘Sixty years!’ ’66 Texas Western’s moment in history still resonates
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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