By “Nunnie” Robinson, Westside Gazette Sports Editor
I love Black History Month almost as much as Christmas. Our Black National anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” captures the very essence of our journey from the middle passage to the present. I am determined to sing the lyrics verbatim without assistance whenever the opportunity presents itself. As a Baby Boomer born in 1947, I want you to walk with me down memory lane, back to 1965-66. The Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had been passed by Congress and President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Things were looking up, improving for Black people in America thanks to the Civil Rights movement led by Dr. king, Stokely Carmichael, Viola Liuzzo, Julian Bond and myriad other brave women, men and children, some of whom lost their lives fighting for freedom, equality and justice for all.
A basketball game for the NCAA national championship was held on March 19, 1966, at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland featuring the Kentucky Wildcats, the number one ranked team in men’s college basketball against the Texas Western Miners, who were ranked third in the nation. However, it wasn’t just any ordinary game, championship or not. You see and most of you may recall Texas Western’s starting lineup , coached by visionary Don Haskins, consisted of five African Americans, the first all-Black lineup in an NCAA title game; their opponents, by contrast, fielded an all-white squad coached by Adolp Rupp who refused to believe that his all white team could ever lose to a team of such composition, most of which was based on the racial mores, hierarchy and belief of superiority espoused by segregationists at the time. If you were like me, glued to the television, hanging on every play, tension sky high because we, you, me and millions of Black Americans knew that this was no ordinary championship game. The very pride of a people and the future depended on the outcome. I’m reminded of an earlier, similar scenario involving a championship heavyweight fight between Nazi Germany’s Max Schmeling and American champ, army veteran and hero, Joe Louis, one with political and racial implications: Hitler’s philosophy of Aryan superiority versus American democracy. Back then it was the radio, but the elements (white supremacy and racial justice) were the same. Good overcame evil in both instances. Joe Louis knocked the German out and the Miners won 72–65, claiming the school’s first national championship in men’s college basketball, a victory that challenged assumptions widely held about Black players at the time, resulting in major college programs intensifying their recruiting efforts for top African-American players in the years following.
Top players on the Wildcats included Pat Riley, yes that Pat Riley of Laker, Knicks and Heat acclaim, the team’s leading scorer and sharpshooter Louie Dampier. Point guard Bobby Joe Hill, power forward Dave Lattin, Orsten Artis, Nevil Shed and Harry Flournoy led the Miners.
I just remember experiencing feelings of unquenchable exuberance, happiness, joy and overwhelming racial pride. Another moment in Black History.
If you see me about, let me know if you shared my emotions at the time. Until next time…..
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