Sports Leadership Resource Centre: Movies
Summary: A true-life story of a basketball team who broke down barriers while racking up victories is the basis for this sports drama. Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) was a high school and college basketball star that after six years of working with high school teams, became the head coach at Texas Western University in 1962. At that time, Texas Western’s basketball program was not well respected, but Haskins was determined to change that and in 1966 assembled what he believed would be a winning team. However, Haskins’ starting line-up was comprised entirely of African-American athletes at a time when racially integrated teams were still a novelty in the South and West. Despite generating a firestorm of controversy, Haskins and his players showed they could succeed where it counted — on the court. In post-season play, Haskin’s Texas Western team found themselves competing for the NCAA championship against the University of Kentucky’s all-white team, lead by legendary coach Adolph Rupp (Jon Voight).
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