Synopsis

In 1965, Texas Western College coach Don Haskins assembles a talented but unconventional basketball team, recruiting Black players from across the country despite widespread racial prejudice. As the Miners advance through the 1965-66 season, their success challenges segregation in college athletics. Their historic NCAA championship showdown against Kentucky becomes a defining moment in sports and the civil rights era.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is based on the 1965-66 Texas Western Miners, who defeated Kentucky 72-65 in the NCAA championship game on March 19, 1966.

• Texas Western's five African-American starters were the first such lineup to win an NCAA championship game. The school changed its name to the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967.

• Filming took place at UTEP, the former Texas Western College, as well as locations in El Paso, New Orleans, Hammond, Louisiana, and Chalmette, Louisiana.

• To reproduce the championship game, the filmmakers used rare home-movie footage, Texas Western yearbook photographs, and more than 30 rolls of Sports Illustrated photography.

• The photograph shown near the end of the film is the actual 1965-66 Texas Western team picture, not a photograph of the performers.

• Josh Lucas gained 43 pounds for his portrayal of Don Haskins.

• Prosthetic ears, cheeks, and a nose were used to give Jon Voight a rounder appearance as Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp.

• Don Haskins appears briefly as a gas station attendant during the recruiting trip.

• The home-video release included deleted scenes, extended interviews with former players, a featurette about Haskins, and footage of the real championship participants discussing the game.

• The film won the 2006 ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie.