How Don Haskins Made History

In 1966 the Miners of Texas Western University made history. Don Haskins did not see race instead he saw players that could win games. During 1966, when Civil Rights were on the forefront, one coach, Don Haskins, went against the grain; and recruited seven black players based on their skills, which changed the face of collegiate basketball for years to come.
Don Haskins once said, “ If you want to win you have to recruit.” This is where he became a genius. His first recruit was a black player by the name of Bobby Joe Hill. Hill was a top tier point guard, but no one looked at him because he was black. That is when Haskins recruited six more black players by the names of Harry Flournoy, Orsten Artis, Willie Cager, Nevil Shed, Willie Worsley, and David Latin. The one thing

Texas western made the tournament and even made the final four where they met another young star black player named JoJo White. JoJo was an all-american. The Miners stayed with the same starting line up that had gotten them to the final four. In the end of the game the miners needed white player Jerry Armstrong to make a big play and that he did by stopping JoJo white and Kansas from moving on to play Adolph Rupp and all white Kentucky. The day before the National Championship game they held a press conference for both teams and Coach Haskins was asked how he was going to stop All american Pat Riley and Sharpshooter Louie Dampier. Haskins Took a deep breath and asked “ Why don't you ask Kentucky how they plan to stop Bobby Joe Hill and David Latin?” Adolph Rupp simply had no clue who his players were. That was when Haskins said this is more than basketball and in the championship game versus Kentucky he started and played all 7 black players and the game was back and forth but Texas Western soon sealed the game with a steal by Bobby Joe Hill and a dunk by David Latin. You could say coach Rupp and Kentucky know them