March 19, 1966

With the UTEP Miners coming to town on Thursday to face our Arizona Wildcats, it makes me think back to March 19, 1966. I was 20 years old, old enough at the time that I will always remember and never forget what happened that day on the court inside the Cole Field House at the University of Maryland. For it was on that day, the all-black starting five from El Paso, Texas, known then as the Texas Western Miners, upset the powerful Kentucky Wildcats for the National Title. I can still relive in my mind the historic game as Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin, Orsten Artis, Nevil Shed, Harry Flournoy...and also Willie Cager and Willie Worsley, all logged their share of minutes on the court, en route to a championship win over the Wildcats, coached by the legendary coach Adolph Rupp. But on that day, it was the Miners' coach Don Haskins and his tight-knit group of players that got the upper hand on Rupp and the powerful Wildcats as the Miners won the title, 72-65. If there ever was a time to grab a morning edition of a sports page, March 20, 1966, would have been that day. The headlines read: Texas Western stuns Kentucky...and the world.