On Saturday, March 19, 1966, riot police in El Paso, Texas, struggled to calm mobs of people moving through city streets. The residents had not taken to the streets in protest, but rather to celebrate. Just hours earlier, the Texas Western College Miners upset the University Kentucky Wildcats to win the school’s first national championship title in men’s basketball. This event was historic because the Miners were the first team with African American starters to win this national title.

Wearing warm up jackets, just like the one shown above, the Miners entered the National Championship game as underdogs. Their opponents, the Kentucky Wildcats, had won four previous national championships. Fans and analysts expected the favored team to win handily over the inexperienced challengers from West Texas. No major college team had ever started five black players in a championship game. Prevailing racist ideology suggested that a team comprised of black players could not function as a unit and would immediately fall apart without the calm composure of a white player to lead them.

The Texas Western Miners 72–65 victory made history that night in College Park, Maryland.  This triumph paved the way for many other African Americans basketball players to secure scholarships across the country and for colleges to reassess their assumptions and stereotypes about African American student athletes.

The jacket pictured above is now in the collection of theSmithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visitors to the museum can view this object in the “Sports: Leveling the Playing Field” exhibition.

Credits and Sources:

2014.89.2 - Warm up jacket worn by Jerry Armstrong for Texas Western, 1965-1966. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Fitzpatrick, Ryan. "Texas Western's 1966 Title Left Lasting Legacy." ESPN Classic. November 19, 2003. Accessed January 7, 2016. https://espn.go.com/classic/s/013101_texas_western_fitzpatrick.html. 

Frank, Deford. "1966 Flashback: Sports Illustrated." UTEP Official Athletic Site. Accessed January 7, 2016. http://www.utepathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/041607aad.html. 

Sanchez, Ray. "A Season to Remember." UTEP Official Athletic Site. Accessed January 7, 2016. http://www.utepathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/041607aaa.html.