[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 132 (Friday, September 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE 1966 TEXAS WESTERN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL TEAM ON 
   THEIR INDUCTION INTO THE NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

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                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 7, 2007

  Mr. REYES. Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of the Texas Western 
Miners, the 1966 NCAA championship basketball team that is being 
inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today. 
Texas Western College is now known as the University of Texas at El 
Paso (UTEP), and is in the district that I am honored to represent. The 
victory of the 1966 Texas Western team made a groundbreaking impact on 
diversity in sports and civil rights in America, and this team is only 
one of six to be enshrined forever as a legend of the basketball world.
  Texas Western was coached by Don Haskins, ``the Bear,'' who has 
become an El Paso icon and legend and who was himself inducted into the 
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997 as a coach.
  The Texas Western team, a tight-knit group of blacks, whites, and one 
Hispanic, finished the 1965-66 regular season with a 23-1 record. The 
Miners then played their way to the NCAA championship game. On the 
night of March 19, 1966, in College Park, MD, history was made when 
Haskins started, for the first time ever, an all-black lineup in the 
final NCAA championship game against Adolph Rupp's No. 1-ranked 
Kentucky Wildcats, an all-white team. The Texas Western team won the 
national title with a 72-65 victory. More important than the basketball 
victory was the profound statement that was made that night regarding 
an issue that was causing great national controversy and strife--civil 
rights.
  The win soon became a symbol for the breakthrough of black athletes 
into college sports and is an event defined by many as the ``Brown v. 
Board of Education of athletics''. After the `66 championship, college 
teams throughout the South began aggressively recruiting black 
athletes, ending years of shameful segregation. You may recall that the 
2006 film ``Glory Road'' is based on the story of the 1966 Texas 
Western team. Years later, when recounting his coaching successes and 
historic contribution to civil rights, Haskins said, ``I just played my 
best guys, like any coach would do.''
  This team will be remembered forever. This is a great day for El Paso 
and for basketball enthusiasts all over the world; a great day to 
remember the civil rights struggle and some of the strides that have 
been made; and a great day to recognize and honor the contributions of 
the 1966 Texas Western NCAA championship basketball team as they are 
inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
  I am proud of this team--Bobby Joe Hill (Detroit, Michigan), Orsten 
Artis (Gary, Indiana), Togo Railey (El Paso, Texas), Willie Worsley 
(New York, New York), David Palacio (El Paso, Texas), Dick Myers 
(Peabody, Kansas), Harry Flournoy (Gary, Indiana), Louis Baudoin 
(Albuquerque, New Mexico), Nevil Shed (New York, New York), Jerry 
Armstrong (Eagleville, Missouri), Willie Cager (New York, New York), 
David `Big Daddy' Lattin (Houston, Texas) and their legendary coach, 
Don ``the Bear'' Haskins, and congratulate them on this slam dunk!

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