| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Glory Road (2006) |
| Director | James Gartner |
| Screenplay Writer | Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois |
| Based on Novel by | Inspired by true story of Texas Western College basketball team |
| Lead Actors | Josh Lucas |
| Cast | Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Jon Voight |
| Genre | Drama, Sports, Biography |
| Release Date | January 13, 2006 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 58m (118 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$30 million |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | ~$42.9 million |
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During this time of year basketball becomes the most prevalent sport in most of our minds. Football is almost done and over with, and baseball is still a couple of months away. What better way to get into the spirit of basketball than with a movie that shows historically what it has meant in defining the nation. The film, Glory Road, focuses on a Texas Western basketball team that was a constant underdog in 1965, and that had the audacity to be the first team to start five African-American players in 1966.
This was something not done (starting a full squad of African American players) at this time, and I’m sure we all realize that this film takes place during the time of the civil rights era. The Texas Western squad dribbled down the road to glory in 1966 with seven African American players added to their team, and went on to win the National Title that same year. Director James Gartner does a good job showing the tumultuous times that these African American Texas Western players: Bobby Joe Hill (Derek Luke), Harry Flournoy Jr. (Mechad Brooks), Orsten Artis (Alphonso Mcauley), Willie “Scoops” Cager (Damaine Radcliff), Willie Worsley (Sam Jones III), Nevil Shed (Al Shearer), and David Lattin (Schin A.S.Kerr) are going through, and also the undying strength of coach Don Haskins (played by Josh Lucas).
Hired on as the new coach of Texas Western from a high school girls team Coach Haskins wasn’t satisfied with the talent level of the players he was seeing on his inherited squad. Coach Don Haskins, unable to convince any players to come to his little out of the way school did the next best thing. He recruited the best available player regardless of race when it was difficult to do so, and looked for the best players that he could find to fit his system. The film also shortly focuses on what the other players (non black) on the team went through during this championship season. The legendary story of Texas Western went something like this.
The two teams met on Saturday, March 19, 1966, in the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House. The legendary Kentucky Wildcats were Texas Westerns opponents, and the even more legendary Adolph Rupp (John Voight) their coach. Adolph Rupps foot dragging on integration, and the comments that had been associated with him that “no five blacks are going to beat Kentucky.” This set the scene for this basketball game to elevate into something more important than the sport.
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