Editor's Note: The news of Don Haskins' death was followed by a series of statements. Below is the news release from UTEP, along with statements in tribute to Haskins.
***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2008
Contact: Jeff Darby
Legendary UTEP Coach Don Haskins Passes Away
EL PASO, TEXAS - Don Haskins, one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, passed away on Sunday. He was 78.
Haskins died at his home, surrounded by friends and family, at 4:30 p.m. MDT. A public memorial is tentatively planned for later in the week, with arrangements pending.
"It is a very sad time for all of us," UTEP Director of Athletics Bob Stull said. "Don is an icon of El Paso. He has had a huge impact on the city and the University
of Texas at El Paso. Since his retirement, he has remained very interested in our entire athletic program and supportive of all of our coaches. He has been an
invaluable resource to everybody in the athletic department. He remains one of the most revered and honored coaches in basketball history. His decision to start five black players in the 1966 national championship game, as chronicled in the movie
Glory Road, changed college basketball and the sports world. He will always be remembered for that."
"My thoughts and prayers go out to Mary and the Haskins family," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "We are losing a national treasure. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know him over the last two years. The information he shared with me was invaluable to a first-time head coach. He is a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame person. It's sad to think that we're losing someone so special to this community and this university, and a national hero at the same time."
Haskins, who was nicknamed "The Bear," was the head coach at UTEP from 1961-99, leading the Miners to 719 wins, as well as a national title (1966), 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven Western Athletic Conference championships.
CBS Sportsline.com named him the greatest Division I men's basketball coach of all time in July, 2001. "UTEP -- with no recruiting base, no media attention and
substandard budgets -- had no business winning much of anything," said sports columnist Dan Wetzel. "No coach did more with less, maximized his talent and mad strange parts fit better than The Bear."
Haskins, who announced his retirement on Aug. 24, 1999, ranks 19th among all-time Division I men's basketball head coaches with 719 victories.
He was born on March 14, 1930 in Enid, Okla. He played his college ball at Oklahoma
A&M (now Oklahoma State) from 1949-52, where he was a second team All-Conference
selection as a senior. Haskins split time at the guard and forward positions as a collegian, leading Oklahoma A&M to the NCAA semifinals in 1949 and 1951.
Haskins' coaching career began at Benjamin High School in Benjamin, Texas in 1955. He was a teacher and coach of both boys and girls teams at Benjamin High from 1955-56. Haskins also headed the basketball programs at Hedley (Texas) High School
from 1956-60 and Dumas (Texas) High School from 1960 -61.
Haskins took over the UTEP program for the 1961-62 season. His first Miner squad notched an 18-6 record. His second UTEP team posted a 19-7 mark during the 1962-63 campaign and made the first of Haskins' 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Miners captured the NCAA title on March 19, 1966, shocking heavily-favored Kentucky, 72-65, for the championship. That year Haskins became the first coach ever to start a lineup of five black players at the major college level. The achievement
was documented in the 2006 motion picture Glory Road.
Haskins' teams captured WAC championships in 1970, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1992, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1975, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1992.
Haskins has tutored numerous players who have gone on to play in the NBA, including Antonio Davis, Tim Hardaway and Jim Barnes, the first pick by New York in the 1964 NBA Draft.
Haskins' last Miner team notched a 16-12 record during the 1998-99 season, his 32nd winning season in 38 years as head coach.
Haskins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 29, 1997, and the Jim Thorpe Association Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame on Aug. 9, 1999 in Oklahoma City.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; three sons - Brent, David and Steve; and three grandsons. A fourth son, Mark, passed away in 1994.
Don Haskins Career Coaching Record
Year Overall Conference Conf. Finish Postseason
1961-62 18-6 5-3 2nd None
1962-63 19-7 None None NCAA
1963-64 25-3 None None NCAA
1964-65 16-9 None None NIT
1965-66 28-1 None None NCAA
1966-67 22-6 None None NCAA
1967-68 14-9 None None None
1968-69 16-9 None None None
1969-70 17-8 10-4 1st NCAA
1970-71 16-10 9-5 T2nd None
1971-72 20-7 9-5 T2nd NIT
1972-73 16-10 6-8 5th None
1973-74 18-7 8-6 5th None
1974-75 20-6 10-4 2nd NCAA
1975-76 19-7 9-5 T2nd None
1976-77 11-15 3-11 8th None
1977-78 10-16 2-12 8th None
1978-79 11-15 3-9 T5th None
1979-80 20-8 10-4 T2nd NIT
1980-81 18-12 9-7 4th NIT
1981-82 20-8 11-5 T2nd None
1982-83 19-10 11-5 T1st NIT
1983-84 27-4 13-3 1st NCAA
1984-85 22-10 12-4 1st NCAA
1985-86 27-6 12-4 T1st NCAA
1986-87 25-7 13-3 1st NCAA
1987-88 23-10 10-6 4th NCAA
1988-89 26-7 11-5 T2nd NCAA
1989-90 21-11 10-6 T3rd NCAA
1990-91 16-13 7-9 T5th None
1991-92 27-7 12-4 T1st NCAA
1992-93 21-13 10-8 4th NIT
1993-94 18-12 8-10 T5th None
1994-95 20-10 13-5 T2nd NIT
1995-96 12-16 4-14 9th None
1996-97 13-13 6-10 T6th None
1997-98 12-14 3-13 7th None
1998-99 16-12 8-6 4th None
Totals 719-354 262-200 --- ---
Jeff Darby
Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations
UTEP
(915) 747-6652
FAX (915) 747-5444
jdarby@utep.edu
www.utepathletics.com
***
from UTEP President Diana Natalicio
Coach Haskins was not only a giant in the world of basketball and an icon in our community, but a very special member of our UTEP family.
We are deeply saddened by his passing, and our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Mary and his family.
***
From state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh
EL PASO – Today, Senator Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) issued the following statement on the passing of legendary University of Texas at El Paso coach, Don Haskins:
Don Haskins was a friend. He was a great coach. He was a mentor. For thousands of us, he was El Paso. His spirit, his pride, his determination lifted us up.
On May 15, 2006, the Texas Senate honored the 1966 Texas Western College Miners basketball team and coach Don Haskins on the 40th anniversary of the team's National Collegiate Athletic Association national championship. Texas Western College, soon after renamed The University of Texas at El Paso, blazed a trail that many other teams would soon follow when it became the first basketball team to start five African American players in a national championship game.
Led by coach Don Haskins, the Miners defeated an all-white University of Kentucky team by a score of 72-65, shattering once and for all the myth that a multiracial team had no place in collegiate sports; the story of that groundbreaking season has been made into the feature film Glory Road.
The members of this illustrious team were: Jerry Armstrong, Orsten Artis, Louis Baudoin, Willie Cager, Harry Flournoy, Bobby Joe Hill, David Lattin, Dick Myers, David Palacio, Togo Railey, Nevil Shed, and Willie Worsley.
***
From the El Paso CVB
The staff with the El Paso Convention & Visitors Bureau would like to express their deepest condolences to Mary Haskins and her family on the passing of Coach Don Haskins. Coach Haskins was, and will forever remain, a true El Paso icon, and we thank him for a lifetime of
remarkable achievements and for the pride and inspiration he has given all El Pasoans.
Among the many awards and accolades bestowed upon Coach Don Haskins, the El Paso Convention & Visitors Bureau was proud to present him with the first-ever “Spirit of Amigo” Award on May 13, 2005. The award is presented to a person or organization which has had a
profound impact on portraying a positive image about El Paso. The award has since been presented to Fort Bliss (2006), the Sun Bowl Association (2007) and ABC 7’s Gary Warner (2008). But Coach Haskins was the first recipient, setting the bar extremely high for others to
follow.
Over the years Coach Haskins has been revered by many throughout the country, and the City of El Paso has been blessed to be able to call him one of ours. It is our strong belief that his contributions to our community will stay in the hearts of many El Pasoans for many years to
come.
***
From U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes
"Carolina and I were deeply saddened to learn of Don Haskin's passing, and we join all El Pasoans in mourning the loss of "the Bear." We have had the privilege of knowing Don and Mary over the years, and our thoughts and prayers are with her and their entire family.
"Don's contributions to the game of basketball will forever be remembered and appreciated. He shattered racial barriers and helped advance racial equality during a time when our country was plagued by discrimination and segregation. Texas Western's historic victory in the 1966 National Championship is often regarded as one of the greatest moments in sports history and the most important game in college basketball. El Paso and the UTEP community will never be the same without him, but his legacy is forever enshrined in the Basketball Hall-of-Fame and in the movie production "Glory Road." We will miss him greatly."
***
From El Paso Saddleblanket
The biggest event we have ever—had probably the biggest event we will ever have—was the Don Haskins book signing in June of 2006.
In 1996 Coach Don Haskins of Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) had won the prestigious NCAA Basketball Tournament with a starting line up of five African-American players. Haskins coached at UTEP for the next thirty-eight years despite many good offers to coach elsewhere. He had a phenomenal winning record and is one of the most revered and popular personalities in the entire Southwest.
A book by Haskins and nationally known sportswriter Dan Wetzel called Glory Road was later made into a movie starring Josh Lucas. The movie won an ESPY award in 2006, which in sports movies is the same as an Oscar at the Academy Awards.
Coach Haskins is a very modest person who has helped many people go on to greater things. For years he would collect and gather food to distribute to needy people in Mexico and El Paso. I didn’t follow sports much and never met Coach Haskins until one particularly cold day when he came to me wanting to buy blankets to distribute along with his food baskets. Over his objection, I ended up donating some blankets to the cause. He was grateful and we became good friends. He came to Hillsboro a lot.
We decided to do a book signing with Coach Haskins at El Paso Saddleblanket in June of 2006. He had already had several successful signings at Barnes & Noble and at the UTEP book store in January so he didn’t think he would have much of a turnout for another book signing. But then the movie won the ESPY award and the studio released the movie on DVD in May. The coach had his own clothing line and speaking engagements around the country. Coach Haskins and the 1966 team were even invited to the White House for a special screening with President Bush and the First Lady. There was a lot of hype nationwide at the time.
I wanted to do this book signing and get maximum exposure. So we decided that we would sell the newly released Glory Road DVD as well as the book for Haskins to sign. He would also autograph sports memorabilia, clothing articles, posters, basketballs and anything else for a $5 fee to be donated to charity.
Remembering the recent success of our Media Appreciation Awards, I invited all the media to a press release party & barbecue to announce the upcoming book signing on the following Saturday. All four major TV network stations showed up as well as two from Juárez and a host of radio stations and print press, including the local gay newspaper. We had the announcement on every sports news broadcast in town that Wednesday night.
At 8:30 A.M. on Saturday June 10, 2006—the day of the scheduled 11 A.M. book signing—I got a call from my general manager Luc Wells. He called from his cell phone on the way to open up saying there were about twenty cars already in our parking lot. Something told me that this was not going to be an ordinary day.
By the time Coach Haskins and co-author Dan Wetzel arrived, there were fifteen hundred people in the store, our three acre-parking lot was full and no parking places could be found within a block of the El Paso Saddleblanket World Headquarters. The press showed up in full force. The line to buy books and numbered autograph tickets snaked all around the inside of the store. Bonnie and I served cold water to the hundreds of people in line but we knew that there was no way we could finish by 4 P.M. Jeff Limberg, a friend and local sports personality, went around and announced that the book signing would continue the next Saturday because we had sold six hundred more autograph tickets that the Coach could sign. On the 6 and 10 P.M. new that night every TV station showed huge lines at the Saddleblanket with short clips of Haskins signing books. The leading sports story in the El Paso Times and the Las Cruces Sun-News that Sunday was about the phenomenal book signing.
The next Saturday was almost as busy but we were better prepared. Again, we oversold books, DVDs and autograph tickets by about three hundred this time. Again, Jeff went around and made the announcement that we would be going into double overtime for the third Saturday in a row. Again, great 6 and 10 P.M. TV news coverage and leading sports stories on Sunday.
The last Saturday was busy, but without the craziness of the first two. Hey we were getting to be old hands at this by now.
Coach signed steadily all day and we wound up finishing the last autograph at 4:30. We broke out the tequila while Coach sent Beto Fournier, his assistant (and crony), out to his pick-up to get his coyote and duck callers. Then the legendary seventy-six-year-old coach prepared to demonstrate the fine art of calling for the next three hours.
