Crowd during Basketball Game in 1960s

The image shows the crowd during a basketball game of the Miners in the 1960s. The Miners are leading 67-65. Don Haskins (1930-2008) coached the Miners from 1961 to 1999 when he retired. Nicknamed “The Bear”, he led the Miners to 719 wins, as well as a national title (1966), 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven Western Athletic Conference championships. He has tutored numerous players who have gone on to play in the NBA (e.g. Antonio Davis, Tim Hardaway, Jim Barnes). Haskins always said that color of skin was never an issue but he wanted to start his best players. While blacks couldn't play at most Southern and Southwestern schools in the mid-1960s, Haskins welcomed them at Texas Western, recruiting them from New York City, Detroit and Gary, Ind. The head coach was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Jim Thorpe Association Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Area: Central / University

Source: C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library. Collection Name: MS001. Photo ID: MS001-66basketball-folder2-06.

Uploaded by: UTEP Library Special Collections