Some observations and recollections from years ago came back to mind while watching the OHIO-BG women’s game last week when BG came out for pre-game warm-ups with all 15 players being white. When the game started, it was ‘5 on 5’, one might say. My color-blind wife, to her credit, never made that observation. 

 

BG happens to be the premier program in the MAC, currently 14-1 and ranked 34^th nationally, including an 11 point win against a top 25 Vandy team at that time. OHIO, a team really struggling, actually played them well, hanging around until the end of the game before losing by 12.

 

So what this got me thinking about was a significant game in basketball history, back in 1966, when Kentucky played Texas Western (now called UTEP) for the national championship. The book and later made Disney movie, Glory Road,  retells that story when an all white no.1 ranked and undefeated Kentucky team, coached by legendary Adolph Rupp, took on a 23-1 team that played only seven players that day, and all were black. No major college team had started 5 black players before it has been reported.

 

Don Haskins, the Texas Western coach, a white man, who later wrote this book, recruited many of his players from northern urban areas during a period when racial factors played a huge part in team make-ups. Times were different then. The South was essentially all white players and Kentucky was certainly no exception, never having had a black player. Up north, there was somewhat of a mix, but our society expected at least one white player be on the court, and the expression "Two blacks at home, three on the road, and four when behind" has been reported. Despite being ranked third, Texas Western was not well known. Even many sportswriters knew little about them, and some reported (assuming) that this team was a run and gun, playground style team. Nothing could have been further from the truth. They were a deliberate team, walking the ball up the court and running a structured, patterned offense. Not many people were expecting this would be much of a game.

 

 

I’ve read that Rupp fumed about that game the rest of his life, giving every excuse in the book for the loss, but no credit to Texas Western. He said things like: “we lost because of the flu bug, the unfair refs, poor shooting, playing against ineligible players (untrue), and playing a bunch of thugs (four of the seven graduated, and the other three were highly successful businessmen.).  Eventually, the Kentucky AD pressured Rupp to start recruiting black players, but that had limited success. Interestingly, and fitting I believe, the last game Rupp ever coached in 1972 was a loss to Florida State, in another game where an all-white Kentucky team lost to a team that started 5 black players.

 

Haskins has said winning this game was the worst thing that ever happened to him as it made his life so difficult.

 

The arena where he coached is now called The Don Haskins center.

 

Back to OHIO women’s hoops for a moment as it speaks to another current Bobcat Attack thread arguing the importance of offense vs. defense. To me, it’s obvious that a complement of both is necessary to be successful. OHIO women are a test case as they are one of worst shooting teams I’ve seen. They really have only one player who has shown she can shoot decently in game conditions (Benson). In 5 offensive categories in the MAC, they are dead last in 4 and next to last in the other. On the other hand, they are a very good defensive team, which keeps them in many games, including this game. Yes, you won’t win much without good defense, but in this case it’s the other side of the coin: you won’t win if you don’t score.

 

OHIO is a very athletic, scrappy team that works hard for 40 minutes. The future may not look bright to some, but the current team is young and playing together for the first time this year. A few players show potential to score in ways other than outside shooting. The recruits look very strong on paper. The future looks bright.