Kentucky Perspective

"No five black players can beat my five white boys."

                                -Adolph Rupp

Texas Western’s 72-65 victory against Kentucky was a turning point in basketball history, although there wasn't very much attention regarding the topic after the title. The real attention came later on. 

Kentucky had multiple perspectives on Texas Western. Their coach, Adolph Rupp however, was against this racial barrier, calling the whole team ‘’coons.’’ Before the game, Don Haskins heard that Rupp said that “no five blacks can beat Kentucky.” Nevil Shed, from Texas Western, recalled the post-game episode in the handshake line where Rupp declined to shake hands with the TWC players. Rupp was not ready for the change of integration.

However, Kentucky players had good sportsmanship. “It wasn’t the first time we played against black players,” guard Louie Dampier said. “When we looked at the other end, that was just another team we wanted to beat.” David Lattin remembered Kentucky’s Thad Jaracz saying “nice play” after Lattin’s third dunk. After the game, Pat Riley, Kentucky’s forward, shook hands with Texas Western. After shaking hands, Riley and Louie Dampier went into the TWC locker room to personally congratulate TWC’s huge victory. Most of the team showed they were ready for integration.

Fans were okay at the title overall, although as seen on video, one Kentucky fan was waving a Confederate flag. The Miners recall that the fans didn’t do anything racist during the game. “I knew it as the championship game,” as stated by Sonny Vaccaro, a fanwho listened in on a Pittsburgh radio station, “but it never dawned on me the social significance that it was until after the fact.’’ Fans were mixed on integration.