In Real Life
Glory Road was inspired by a true story, as described by Texas Western's head coach Don Haskins in his autobiography of the same title, a national bestseller released in 2005 by Hyperion Books. The book details Haskins' early life as a player (including a one-on-one game against a black friend that opened his eyes) and women's basketball coach. Like the film it then focuses on the 1966 Texas Western men's basketball team and the aftermath of the championship, which is not in the movie version except for some closing lines on what became of the main characters. It was reprinted five times in its first four months of release and was selected as an "Editor's Choice" by the New York Times Book Review. Additionally "Glory Road" is the name of a street on the UTEP campus near the Sun Bowl which was renamed to commemorate the 1966 NCAA championship.
Later asked about his decision to start five black players, Haskins downplayed the significance of his decision. "I really didn't think about starting five black guys. I just wanted to put my five best guys on the court. I just wanted to win the game." Though credited with setting in motion the desegregation of college basketball teams in the South, he wrote in his book "I certainly did not expect to be some racial pioneer or change the world."
Dunking was banned in the NCAA from 1967 to 1976, not least due to the success of the Texas Western team and a UCLA player named Lew Alcindor (better known later as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) then entering the league.
Next to the closing credits, scenes from interviews with some of the real-life players from the team are shown, including one player from the opposing University of Kentucky team beaten by Texas Western in the NCAA finals, NBA head coach Pat Riley. The real life Don Haskins was cast as an extra in the film as a gas station attendant, and David Lattin was cast as an extra as a military bartender.
The players on the 1966 team were David Lattin, Bobby Joe Hill, Willie Cager, Willie Worsley, Jerry Armstrong, Orsten Artis, Nevil Shed, Harry Flournoy, Togo Railey, Louis Baudoin, Dick Myers,and David Palacio. The team was nominated in its entirety for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and was inducted on September 7, 2007, ten years after coach Don Haskins had already been enshrined.
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