Associated Black Charities Honoring 1966 Texas Western Team

Feb. 2, 2005

The historic 1966 Texas Western University Miners basketball squad have been selected as the 19th Annual Black History Makers Awards honorees in recognition of their milestone contribution to ending segregation in college sports and accelerating integration of higher education in America when they defeated powerhouse University of Kentucky 39 years ago to become the first all-black starting team to win an NCAA basketball championship.

Associated Black Charities bestowed the honors that night at its annual black-tie dinner event at the Marriot Marquis Hotel in New York. This years theme was, most appropriately, “Progress through Education and Sports.”

The star-studded evening featured remarks from Pat Riley, president of the Miami Heat, former NBA championship coach and star forward on the 1966 Kentucky squad. Award presenters included Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, himself the seventh African-American coach to win an NCAA title, and retired Arkansas coach Noland Richardson, who played under coach Haskins and went on to be the second African-American coach to win an NCAA title. The master of ceremonies for the evening was Madison Square Garden sports anchor Bill Daughtry.

The organization’s Annual Black History Makers Award pays tribute to and honors extraordinary outstanding African Americans and persons of African descent whose exemplary character, professional achievements and personal service has had an enduring imprint and is a model for emulation by young African-Americans.

This year’s Black History Maker Award honorees from Texas Western University, now known as University of Texas at El Paso, were 1966 players Willie Cager, Harry Flournoy, Bobby Joe Hill, Willie Worsley and Nevil Shed. Former Texas Western coach Don Haskins received a Special Achievements Award for his leadership of the team.

The match-up often referred to as “the game that changed American sports.” Represented the first time an ll-black team played an all-white team in the NCAA basketball national championship game. The upstart Texas Western Miners went on to become the first all-black squad to win the national title 39 years ago, defeating perennial powerhouse Kentucky 72-65. The story of the historic game and its subsequent impact is the subject of a major motion picture currently in production by Disney, set for release later in 2005.

One of the operating beliefs of Associated Black Charities is that the fundamental requirement for improvement in American education is to create environment in which teachers and students have high expectations of themselves and each other, where they irrevocably commit to the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and where they attain the self-confidence to achieve a mutually accepted vision of success. While sports are not an essential life skill and an end in itself, it has proven to be a useful adjunct that facilitates educational development.

“Texas Western’s victory was the result of great teaching by Coach Haskins and a commitment to learning and excellence by the players,” said Rayton Gerald, chairman, Associated Black Charities. “The players were inspired by Coach Haskins’ high expectations to make profound personal and physical sacrifices in order to achieve a mutually accepted definition of success – in this case, the NCAA national basketball championship.”

“The Texas Western case,” he added, “represents what is needed to restore world-class quality in American education, particularly in America’s inner cities: teachers with high expectations of students, a deep commitment to teaching, and the parallel disposition of students committed to learning and excellence based on a vision of success.

“This historic game also demonstrated that given equal opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills and the chance to express their competencies, African Americans could perform competitively and win,” said Gerald.

In receiving the annual Black History Makers Award, the Texas Western team joined such notable past honorees as United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Maya Angelou, CBS’s Ed Bradley, Arthur Ashe and others.

Each year at its Black History Maker Awards dinner event, Associated Black Charities highlights the extraordinary achievements of one of its 24 member agencies. As part of the Black History Makers dinner theme, “Programs through Education and Sports,” the organization focused this year’s spotlight on The Sports Foundation, Inc, Bronx, NY..

The Sports Foundation utilizes sports as a catalyst to recruit youth using expert training and scheduled activities to expose boys and girls to new opportunities in education, advocacy, case management, counseling, criminal justice, crisis intervention, drug and alcohol services, HIV/AIDS services, mental health services, mentoring, pregnancy prevention and recreation.

The Associated Black Charities’ mission is to promote the delivery of quality health and human services to New York’s African American community. Founded 21 years ago, ABS is a federation of 24 community-based health and human service agencies that serve more than 175,000 clients annually. The primary purpose and task of the organization is fundraising on behalf of its member agencies. In addition to financial assistance, ABC secures management and technical assistance for its members. The organization also assists member agencies to educate and promote constructive dialogue among public and corporate officials and the community at large through organizing and convening seminars and conferences, publication of treaties, and other forums about health and human services issues affecting the community.

Liberty News Online magazine would like to thank Mr. Jack Mello, for inviting us to cover this wonderful event. Anyone interested in learning more about Associated Black Charities may visit their website at www.assocblackcharities.org.

The African American and Caribbean Section is headed by assistant editor Annette Johnson, and Liberty News Online Staff Writers contributing articles. It will cover articles about the African American and Caribbean communities throughout the U.S.A. For more information, feel free to email us at lncarib@hadofnyc.org. If you are interested in having us cover one of your events, feel free to notify us one week in advance, so we can add you to our master calendar, and have our Liberty News Staff come and write an article about your event. Feel free to email us at lnevents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616 between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm, and ask to speak to Annette or Steve