On Tuesday March 6th I flew to El Paso Texas to complete our 1966 Texas Western project. The last guy was Coach Don Haskins. Texas Western eventually became University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Needless to say, this was my first time in El Paso. El Paso is far away from any part of Texas I am remotely familiar with. It is right on the border with Juarez, Mexico. Airplanes do not fly directly there from New York. On the plane I was able to finish Haskins' book Glory Road and was really getting excited to meet the man. Upon landing in El Paso I could immediately see Coach Haskin's omnipresence there. There were signs in the airport commemorating the 1966 team as well as streets and stadiums named after him.
The next morning I was picked up and taken to Haskins' home. The man that assisted me was a former player under the Coach and gave me a tour of both the school and the city. It is amazing how close to Mexico you are. There are long lines of cars waiting at the border to get in and out of our country. If any of you are familiar with the Bruce Springsteen album "The Ghost of Tom Joad" it is very reminiscent of some of the themes there. After pulling off the freeway we took the scenic route through UTEP. I was shown the old dorms and gym where the 66 champs lived and worked. We also drove past the Don Haskins Center where the current team plays. This was quite a tour.
We then arrived at Haskins' house. There is a good amount of memorabilia on the walls. There are several personalized photos from Bobby Knight who Coach is really friendly with. Knight actually wrote the forward to Glory Road. We started working on photos and then eventually the basketballs (which were shipped to the house). We first started talking about the fact that I was from New York. He told me of all the untapped talent he had discovered at Bronx high schools in the 60's. We also spoke of the significance of him starting five black players in the national championship game. He said this was unheard of back then but was not a big deal to him. To this day I don't think he fully understands the magnitude of his decision to play those guys. Coach said he just played his best five players. We actually spoke a lot about baseball. Haskins is from Oklahoma where Mickey Mantle is from. He has always been a Yankee fan for that reason and is also a Derek Jeter fan who Coach simply described as a winner. The signing took about two hours but it felt like twenty minutes. This guy is probably the most interesting athlete I have ever encountered.
I flew back to New York the next morning. Based on Coach Haskins' recommendation I picked up the Jerry Tarkanian book "Runnin' Rebel". He was right. The book was amazing. I finished it before landing in New York. It's crazy to think that the two best books I have read in years I finished in a day and a half on airplanes.
You should all check out the books as well as our Texas Western product. I am really proud of the team signed pieces.